Conscription in South Korea
The basis for military conscription in South Korea is the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, which was promulgated on July 17, 1948. The constitution states in Article 39, "All citizens shall have the duty of national defense under the conditions as prescribed by Act." The Military Service Act of 1949, which was implemented in 1957, specified that compulsory military service is required for men ages 19 or older. Conscription is managed by the Military Manpower Administration, which was created in 1948.
Military history of Asian Americans
One Asian American received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Korean War. This went to Japanese American Corporal Hiroshi Miyamura of the 7th Infantry Regiment; the awarding of the medal was initially made in secret, as at the time Miyamura was being held by North Koreans as a prisoner of war. Three brothers, Kurt Chew-Een Lee (the first Chinese American Marine officer), Chew-Mon Lee (an army infantry officer), and Chew-Fan Lee (an army medical service officer), all served in different units during the conflict and were awarded the Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, and Bronze Star Medal respectively. Young-Oak Kim, having reenlisted and promoted to major, became the first ethnic minority to command a regular combat battalion, the 1st of the 31st Infantry. Walter Tsukamoto, who was first commissioned in 1927 and entered active duty in 1943, was sent from occupation duty in Japan to Korea in 1950 and was promoted to lieutenant colonel, the first Asian American to achieve that rank in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, served as the senior ranking judge advocate for X Corps and was awarded two Bronze Star Medals for his service in Korea.