SOUTH KOREA: Students brave the summer heat and hard training to get disciplined at a marine boot camp

Record ID: 345372

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: Students brave the summer heat and hard training to get disciplined at a marine boot camp
  • Date: 26th July 2008
  • Summary: (L!2) GANGHWA, SOUTH KOREA (JULY 23, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF STUDENTS WRESTLING ON RAFT STUDENTS HOLLERING STUDENTS ANSWERING IN UNISON STUDENTS CRAWLING ON TOP OF MUD (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 17-YEAR-OLD TRAINEE CHO YEON-HEE SAYING: "I'm tired to death. I want to go back home, but I have to stay because it was my decision to come here." STUDENTS TRAINING ON MUD STUDENTS CRAWLING ON MUD STUDENTS DOING PUSH UPS STUDENTS WALKING FORWARD ON BENDED KNEES STUDENT'S FACE COVERED WITH MUD (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 29-YEAR-OLD HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER LEE YOUNG-JAE SAYING: "I found out characteristics of my student that I did not know before. I am glad to get close to them by training right next to them." STUDENTS DOING PUSH-UPS STUDENTS DOING JUMPING JACKS STUDENTS JUMPING FROM SIDE TO SIDE (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 17-YEAR-OLD TRAINEE CHO SUNG-BIN SAYING "'I can do it.' 'I do not know impossibility.' I will keep these words in my mind when I go home." VARIOUS OF STUDENTS RAFTING
  • Embargoed: 10th August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVAB994CKBWPYLU5MG6V1SIIPSVL
  • Story Text: Its time for the annual summer break and instead of spending time in malls or hanging out with friends, some South Korean students are attending a marine style boot camp.
    Wearing military uniforms and braving the summer heat, about 30 students, mostly reprimanded for bad grades or attitude, took part in the training on Wednesday (July 23) in an effort to reform them.
    They hope to become more disciplined and enhance their mental and physical strength through the four day regimen, where they will train for up to 10 hours daily.
    High-schoolers as young as 17 attend the camp in Ganghwa, 56 kilometres northwest of Seoul. They hope to inspire the students being trained and disciplined by the former marines.
    The camp aims to test their physical endurance through activities such as wrestling, jungle trekking, exercises and team events under the close watch of trainers from the South Korean Marine Corps.

    "I'm tired to death. I do want to go back home, but I have to stay because it was my decision to come here," said 17-year-old trainee Cho Yeon-hee.
    A school teacher, who brought his students to the camp, said it was good experience not only for the students, but also for himself as a teacher.

    "I found out characteristics of my student that I did not know before. I am glad to get close to them by training right next to them,"
    said 29-year-old high school teacher Lee Young-jae.
    The students wrestled in mud and learned to inflate and ride rubber boats.

    "'I can do it.' 'I do not know impossibility.' I will keep these words in my mind when I go home," said 17-year-old trainee Cho Sung-bin.
    The South Korean Marine Corps have been running the boot camps since 1997 and trained more than 30,000 civilians.
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