Blog Post #13 Assignment

Blog Post #13 Assignment - MLA Citations.

The Army established the country’s first female Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul Friday, giving women more access to the male-dominated military.
Decked in dark-navy cadet uniforms, the 30 students selected for the university’s program looked ready to join the country’s armed forces despite the current tentions on the peninsula.
“I feel very happy to join the ROTC program. I have been working out very hard to build up physical strength for the program. I will try to become a good officer who is not outperformed by male soldiers in various aspects,” said Kim Bo-hyun, a 21-year-old cadet majoring in crafts.
“I want to set a good example that would do away with prejudices and stereotypes against female soldiers and hone military skills to remove citizens’ anxiety about national security.”
The ceremony marking the opening of the program at the university was attended by more than 1,000 people, including Major Gen. Lee Seung-woo, chief of the Army Cadet Command, and politicians such as Reps. Chung Mong-joon and Park Jin of the ruling Grand National Party.
“The need in the military for the female professional workforce with unique traits such as flexibility and sensitivity has increased. I will do my utmost to help produce females who can sacrifice themselves to protect the nation and citizens,” Han said during her speech.
The Army announced 60 successful female ROTC applicants late last month. The competition rate was around six to one. They are from the seven universities including Sookmyung, which the Ministry of National Defense has chosen for the ROTC program.
The college-based officer commissioning program will be run on a trial basis and the ministry will expand it should it prove to be effective in recruiting good female military personnel, ministry officials said.
The ROTC program in Korea had been open only to male students.
For a woman to become a commissioned officer in Korea, she had to graduate from a military academy or apply to an officer commissioning program after graduating from a four-year university.
The 60 female cadets will receive 175 hours of military education and 12 weeks of training at a military training center. A female ROTC student is obliged to serve in the military for 28 months.
Some two months after the Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950, a group of about 500 female volunteer troops was set up in the southern port city of Busan. The number of female troops stands at 6,347 as of September.
The U.S. introduced an ROTC program for female students in 1973 and has produced a four-star female general ― Ann E. Dunwoody.
Song Sang-ho, http://www.koreaherald.com/, 11 December 2010, 11 December 2010 http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20101210000915