WOOSUNG DAN SONG

Woosung Song Professor Adam Fagin Writing 111 4 February 2024 Literacy Narrative ‘Radio’ is Ra-di-o, and the word ‘card’ is Ka-d when we pronounce it in Korean. Cake, concept, ringer, complex, lemonade, pamphlet, barbecue, and bus: these are just a few examples of English words that Koreans use colloquially. According to the Standard Korean Language Dictionary, 23000 words out of 440,000, which is more than 5%, are from foreign languages, mainly English. The strong inclinati

When our summer enemies finally disappear and the short fall season passes, soldiers begin preparing for a new threat— snow clearing . Compared to mowing grass in the summer, snow almost feels like a kinder opponent. At least, that’s what I used to think. In summer, grass and resilient plants grow everywhere, all the time. No matter how much you mow, they grow back the next day, demanding nonstop work. Even worse, some of the areas we have to mow are rough and uneven, which i

I am currently stationed in the DMZ. This is a place where human hands have barely touched the land since the war ended. Because of that, the DMZ is filled with traces of the past—rusted structures, old barbed wire, and remnants that never disappeared. Among all of them, the most dangerous remains are landmines. It might sound unbelievable that landmines still exist more than seventy years after the war, but there is constant proof of their presence. That proof comes from the

What do you think is the very first thing they make you do on your first day in the military—even before they teach you how to salute? For me, it was getting my body measured from head to toe. Literally everything. In South Korea, where all four seasons are clearly defined, the military has to prepare millions of uniforms suited for every kind of weather. That first day made one thing clear to me: in the military, weather decides fashion. To understand why the South Korean mi

From piles of food waste in the South Korean military, entire ecological chains quietly form, with JJAM sitting at the center of the system.The first episode of this series introduced JJAM —the slang word for food waste—and looked at the negative effects of its massive volume, along with a simple solution. The second episode focused on an animal that had grown strangely dependent on JJAM: the cat, famously nicknamed the “JJAM-TIGER” in the military. Today’s episode is about a

The Summer Enemies  episodes introduce a series of relentless obstacles in the military—each one like a new enemy on the battlefield. The first episode featured invasive plants that grow exponentially, relentlessly and undead, like unstoppable zombies. In many stories or series, there’s a common storytelling pattern where the challenges or threats start off relatively manageable but become progressively more difficult or dangerous as the story continues.  Today’s second episo

I met a zombie in real life.  It is skinny and boney, and has a greenish color. The zombie that I encountered, although it did not bite as usual, is violently aggressive and has plenty of sharp and long thorns that could easily make us injured when we interact with it. The scariest part is that we thought we had annihilated them all with strong chemicals, blades and other strong weapons and returned home, only to find them the next day exactly where we had made them vanish —

(This episode is a continuation of Episode 1: JJAM. For a clearer understanding, it is recommended to read the first episode before proceeding.) When we took out food waste, we always used a handcart, and I remember two types of animals that we saw every time: the first were various species of flies, and the second were groups of cats. Today, I want to talk about the cats—animals that are almost always present in Korean military bases. In the military, we attach the word “jja

A photo of food waste from the military Inside the military, a lot of slang words exist. Today, I am going to introduce one of the most used slang words inside this group, which is “ JJAM, ” which basically stands for food waste. JJAM, however, has more meaning than that. It also refers to a soldier's length of service  or seniority  in the military hierarchy. It’s not about official rank but rather how long someone has served, especially within the same unit or branch. Soldi

For the everyday routine, an hour before soldiers go to sleep, soldiers have to clean their base. Since it's difficult to hire a janitor...

(This essay is a continuation of the Military March Part 1.) You will never guess the feeling of boundless happiness of freedom after...

There is no better way to prove your physical strength and mental toughness in a very short time than by walking 30 miles carrying a...

In the South Korean Army, besides North Korea, various subjects are also stipulated as an ‘enemy.’ Let me give you an example. The...

Image of demilitarized zone in South Korea The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which divides the Korean Peninsula in half, is one of the most...

A short story about when my tooth fell out in military and scientific reasons behind it.