I have been fortunate and proud to be born as a citizen of the Republic of Korea. With the privilege of being a citizen of a democratic country, every South Korean male must complete 18 months of military service due to our nation being divided into 2 after the Korean War. 

So as all South Korean male do, I have served the army from 12th of September 2023 until 11th of March 2025. 

Having lived abroad since the age of 12, it was quite an adjustment to the strict Korean army environment in the beginning. It took time, but I managed to blend in the environment quite well. After the Basic military training, each person gets assigned to their specific base and role. For me, I was assigned to work inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which is a buffer zone between the North and South Korea border. I was stationed in a place called the Guard Post (GP) which Wikipedia states as “the most dangerous area” since Guard Posts are located within a kilometre or two away from North Korea, pointing crew-served weapons directly at each other at all times. Unfortunately due to military confidential information, I cannot provide information on what exactly we do there, but it includes a lot of sleepless nights and irregular schedule. Soldiers placed in the Guard Post are not allowed to have any personal electronic devices during their stays inside the Guard Post, living in a small bunker styled post watching over enemy’s activity. Although it does not sound like an ideal environment to live in, I can proudly say that I am extremely thankful to have had the opportunity to live in such an environment.

Before entering the Guard Post, I decided to bring 2 items as my main itinerary since I will be forced to be away from society: books, and a watch. Watch enthusiasts know the long connection between wristwatches and the military. Dirty dozen watches, Type 20, Milsub, Fifty Fathoms, and the list goes on. Me being one of those nerds, I went back and forth between a couple watches to choose what to bring to the army. Most soldiers usually get a Casio or a G-shock (probably the smartest choice) but me being me, I wanted something that will carry a story, a watch I can tell stories to my kids one day. I finally came to the conclusion of bringing the Rolex Explorer 124270. Robust, sturdy, 36mm case size, numerals fully lumed unlike the 114270 or 214270 (39mm, meh) which allowed me to check better time in the dark, and I wanted to use the explorer like how it is supposed to be worn; out in the wild. Now that I am out, I can proudly say that I have used that watch to its full potential; exactly the way explorers are supposed to be used. Bear in mind that this 124270 explorer is by no means my favourite explorer reference (personal favourite being the 14270) but I needed a proper tool watch for the environment I was faced with. Heavy snow with temperature reaching near -20 degrees celsius in winter, guarding day and night, as well as humid rainy typhoon summer with 35 degrees celsius. The 124270 fit all the bills for me. It was a “do it all” watch. It never left my wrist. I’ve slept, eaten, showered, shot guns, ambushed; whatever it is, I’ve done it all with this guy.

The watch is full of scratches and dents now, but that is exactly how I wanted this watch to be. Every scratch and dents carries the memory of my time in the army, a tough but such valuable time of my life. So in order to commemorate my time in the Guard Post, I decided to engrave my name, base and my army number.  (Due to Military Confidentiality, I am not able to publicly show the engraving, but will happily show you in person)

Working in the Guard Post, the utmost frontline of South Korea is an environment far from comfort. Irregular sleeping patterns, unexpectedly real time situations, poor living conditions. But looking back at that time, I am so thankful for all the tough times. The disconnection from the internet allowed me to gain so much knowledge through reading, and such an environment allowed me to discover parts of myself that I was not aware of before. I can now confidently say that I am a better man than I was before, and this explorer was with me every step of the way, and it will be with me in every step of my next chapter as well. 

To all the seniority, successors, sergeants, and lieutenants I was with during my time there, thank you. And to all the soldiers who are still there protecting our country, thank you. It might not seem like much, but such small actions of yours are the reason why we are able to sleep soundly at night, the reason we can democratically live our lives, so thank you.