[Lee Jong-gil's Movie Reading] Military Culture Has Changed, but Chunrae Bulsachun Remains

Netflix's 'D.P.' Reignites Issues in Military Culture
Limitations of Military Authorities' Macro Efforts
Internal Members Described as 'Bystanders'... No Tolerance for Neglect

In the Netflix drama ‘D.P.’, Private First Class Jo Seok-bong (Jo Hyun-chul) of the 103rd Division Military Police cannot endure the harsh treatment and deserts. He seeks revenge by going after Hwang Jang-su (Shin Seung-ho), who had bullied him and already been discharged. Private An Jun-ho (Jung Hae-in) and Corporal Han Ho-yeol (Koo Kyo-hwan), fellow D.P. soldiers in the same barracks, investigate Jo’s whereabouts together with Sergeant Park Beom-gu (Kim Sung-kyun). They head to the bus terminal to meet Jo’s acquaintances. Sergeant Park bluntly asks the two soldiers, "Have you ever raised a dog?" "If a dog you raised bites a person, that dog must be put down. A dog that bites a person even once is unforgivable. You think it will do it again. But from the dog’s perspective, wouldn’t it be very unfair if it bit someone who threw stones and bullied it?" "Are you saying Private Jo Seok-bong is a dog?" "(Chuckling) Don’t you think we’re no different?"

This is not simply a matter of strict hierarchy. It is the harmful military culture of obedience training that enforces this. Life in the barracks frightens recruits as much as the fear of war or resistance to lethal training. This is a bad custom rooted since the Korean military was established during the U.S. military government period. To effectively carry out combat, soldiers must embody strict hierarchical order. The Korean military chose repeated abuse. Formally, it resembled the U.S. military, but the military elites who operated the system were all officers trained and served in the Japanese military. They applied the Japanese military’s method of controlling soldiers’ daily lives as it was. The Japanese military tolerated officers beating soldiers until the 1930s and 40s to build a system of obedience to orders. In ‘Modernity Trapped in Militarism’ by Moon Seung-sook, a Japanese soldier explained the effect of beatings as follows: "After continuously receiving cruel and irrational punishments, I became so accustomed to following orders without thinking."

Oppressiveness is actually a common characteristic of the military. Philip Caputo, who analyzed the socialization of military training, studied the background that produces humans who live and die by orders. He focused on the function of insults inflicted on new recruits within the military. He saw that mental and physical sadism destroys self-esteem and fills the void with crowd and obedience psychology. Private Jo is a role that vividly shows this. In episode 1, when he is on duty with Private An, he is endlessly warm. "Private An Jun-ho, guard duty at the military detention center. Thank you for your hard work." "What hard work? Aren’t you tired?" "I’m fine. It’s you, Private Jo Seok-bong, who has it harder because of us." "Lessons without pain have no meaning. Humans can’t gain anything without sacrifice. (...) Let’s treat the kids better later."

Private Jo becomes increasingly brutal as he suffers harsh treatment. He even resorts to violence like Hwang Jang-su, whom he hated so much. He gathers the juniors in the barracks and gives them a severe physical punishment. It is because the new recruits did not recognize Private An outside the fence. "Hey, you damn bastards. How did you manage your juniors so that the new recruits can’t even remember the names of their seniors? Are you all crazy? Damn bastards." Unlike Private Jo, Private An is not swayed by crowd psychology. He orders Jo to go back into the barracks. Jo is taken aback. "What are you doing?" "Sorry. But haven’t we been beaten a lot too? So please stop this kind of thing..." "How much do you think you’ve been beaten! You weren’t even in the unit because you were D.P., damn it." Unjustified violence not only undermines authority and hierarchy but also fosters a victim mentality. Private Jo has no senior to protect him. He deserts to escape the cycle where victims become perpetrators.

There have been several large-scale efforts by military authorities to eliminate these abuses. However, they can never be resolved without the efforts of the members themselves. That is why director Han Joon-hee named the final episode 6 ‘Bystanders.’ Through Sergeant Hutch Do (Choi Jun-young)’s grandmother, the phrase Chunrae Bulsachun (春來不似春) is also mentioned. Spring has come, but it does not feel like spring. Snow still piles up on the floor where Private Jo collapsed. "Although military life has improved a lot, such as allowing cell phones, bad customs continue as long as individuals tolerate them. The resulting rebelliousness and violence also have a considerable impact on Korean society. Even after discharge, the emotions left in the heart do not simply disappear."