Keywords: Korean Drama, Descendants of the Sun, Kdrama recap, K-drama, #Kdrama #DescendantsOfTheSun
Warning!
Faux-K-stories are intended for the purpose of satire, parody, and criticism. None of the depictions of characters and events are true. While the specific show “Descendants of the Sun” is used as the basis, many elements of other Korean dramas are used as reference. Read at your own peril.
[Opening]
A long
way from the hot asphalt and glistening glass that make up the skyscrapers of
Seoul Korea, there is a place where there is just dirt, a bit of green, but
mostly dirt that no one really cares about. Not even the haggard people who
call that place home much care for the patch of dirt that fate placed them in. This
is a story of the Korean men and women of the Company 8 who volunteered to go
to in a place is called “Urk” and keep the peace.
[Introduction]
The
country called “Urk” is located somewhere at the point where western culture
and Middle Eastern culture meet. It is a war torn and desolate land filled with
warring tribes and surplus old Soviet era weapons. The country produces nothing
worth of note and is rather irrelevant except for its geological relationship
to the war on terror. And, because of this fact, a battalion size Korean peace
keeping expeditionary force, ”Tae-Baek”, under the United Nations banner was deployed
to this region which is almost at the opposite ends of the globe from the
comforts of Korea. Company 8 commanded by Captain Yoo Si-jin is part of that
force.
From the
outskirts, it may look like the men of Company 8 is having a good time
reenacting scenes from the movie “Top Gun” (1986). The company even has its own
Tom Cruise in its commanding officer. While a bit taller than the 5'7" Tom
Cruise, Captain Yoo Si-jin is as pretty as Tom Cruise was in his early movies.
It doesn’t hurt that the Captain looks pretty good play beach volleyball
topless. However, once the fun and games are finished and the work days starts,
Company 8 goes to work in full body armor as the region they’re stationed in is
not a vacation paradise even though it is close to a beach. Company 8 is
located near the coastal area of Urk with a mission of keeping the peace and providing
medical services for a region with an estimated population of 9 thousand. With
limited man power and resources at his disposal, this is a daunting task.
Interview:
--- Yoo
Si-jin, Captain of Company 8 deployed in Urk
└ …
What is our mission?
We are tasked to provide
humanitarian aid to the people of Urk.
…
…
Company 8 is composed of
various volunteers across the ROK armed forces.
…
No, our mission is not
related to combating terrorists. As far as I know, ISIS or the Taliban does not
have a presence in this region. The most we have is feuds between tribes that
can get out of hand sometimes. And we are not a combat force even though we
have combat troops for security reasons!
…
Excuse me. Could you get out
of my way! Not only do I have a company to command but we have guests who are
not you coming in today. ┘
---End of Interview
The
Republic of Korea (ROK) military is composed of mostly conscripted men whose
average age is early 20s. It is common practice for Korean men in college to
serve one or two years into their college careers since the job market for
fresh college graduates in Korea has been bad for more than a decade and it is
not looking to get better anytime soon. In fact, it is getting worse. The
overall size of the ROK military is a bit over 600,000 not including the
reserves. A bulk of these conscripted troops serving as ground pounding grunts
in the army is deployed near the board with North Korea. However, these young
men are not part of this story.
Interview:
--- Lance
Corporal Kim Gi-beom, Company cook
└ Don’t mind our captain…
He is a bit busy at the
moment. Command gave us short notice about our guests. He has been running
around trying to get ready the accommodation for the folks he’ll have to
babysit for the next few weeks.
…
Me?
How do I like this place?
I think the mission of
providing humanitarian aid is very fulfilling. However, I’ve haven’t been
outside of these walls ever since I got here. It is the same for most of the
support staff. Only the medical personnel and their security are allowed
outside and even that is only on rare official occasions. So, it is not that
different from being at home other than the fact that is HOT and we don’t get
decent Wi-Fi reception here. It feels like I’m in the 90s with dial up! The
accommodations are not great too. I heard that the boys had gotten much better
over in Afghanistan when we had troops there. Now they are all gone.
No! I’m not Special Forces.
I’ve barely held a gun out of basic. I’m the cook and I volunteered because the
pay is great. I’ll be able to save a decent amount before my term is up. It is
hard to get a civilian job in Korea for anyone young even if you have a college
diploma. ┘
---End of Interview
All
members of the Korean peace keeping force are volunteers and most are also
career military. There are a few special cases in which conscripted enlisted
soldiers were included but those are exceptions and even then they had
volunteered mostly for the pay. Not only do they get “career” pay but they get
hazard pay too. This much more than the normal $150 a month they get if they
stayed in Korea just waiting to serve their 21 month term. In addition, all of
the security troops in the Urk are chosen from Peace Keeping section of the ROK
Special Forces including Captain Yoo Si-jin. This is the official face of
Company 8. However, there is another side to Company 8’s stay in Urk.
Interview:
--- Seo
Dae-Young, Chief Security Consultant (KPMC) attached to Company 8
└ Our HANSOME captain… His
political masters decided to send a civilian Medical Team from Haesung Hospital
and gave his short notice about the whole thing. So typical of the Korean
government bureaucracy. I guess that they just came up with the idea to respond
to some political Shenanigans. In fact, I didn’t think it was Haesung Hospital’s
turn to send a team here. The government “encourages” Hospitals to help make
them look good. So, the hospitals take turns “volunteering” their resources. I
pity the poor saps that got sent all around the world to this dump.
Me? Don’t worry about me!
I’m not army! Unlike our
handsome captain, my work will not change too much although this will mean that
they will be more outing outside of the compound. I was getting a bit bored
just guarding this dump. …
Oh, the pretty boy? Yeah,
that is our captain. Isn’t he so pretty? He looks like a 17 year old boy who
hasn’t gone through puberty yet. But don’t tell him I called him that. Even
though he looks all cute from the outside, our handsome captain is basically
crazy inside. Just a few weeks ago, he got into a knife fight with a contractor
from another PMC over being called a pretty boy. Our captain flipped out and attacked
him with a knife. That contractor was former Delta.
…
Who won? We were able to
break it up beforehand…but I wouldn’t have bet on the other guy. Didn’t I say
he was crazy! I mean, if you are 33 years old and still a captain in the Korean
Special Forces, that basically mean that you have some screws loose.
The new folks…? Who knows? I
don’t know who they are. Just some over educated docs who have gotten too comfy
in their air conditioned offices? Ha ha… the AC has been broken for a few
weeks. We need to get new parts. I hope they don’t forget to load them on to
the helos…? I mean helicopters.
Who forked over helo money? I
haven’t seen a helo since I got here. I mean you had to drive all the way from
the airport at HQ? Yes. We’re too unimportant to allocate the resources!
If I think about it, I’ve
been to Haesung Hospital before. Wonder who they sent…┘
---End of Interview
Company
8’s home is a facility that used to house an American contingent but had not
been in use for several years prior to the Koreans arrival. Within the
boundaries of the compound, the security is provided by the Korean forces.
However, the exterior security is provided by a Korean private military company
or PMC called KPMC. They also work with the ROK forces when the medical staff
do their community reach activities beyond the safety of the compound. Seo
Dae-Young, former ROK Special Forces sergeant in a different life and leader of
KPMC’s 8 man team, treats Urk like another place he earns a paycheck from.
[Ending]
As a
night rolls upon the compound, Seo Dae-Young strolls to check with his men at
the parameter before heading towards the mess hall. It is dinner time and he is
not on the night shift. There are perks to being the boss. And in the morning,
there will be new faces to meet. Hopefully pretty ones… I bet most of the boys
here will be wishing for the same thing.
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