Comments on: Update: Shin-Soo Choo is one win away from freedom

By: The Baseball Idiot

The Baseball Idiot — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:12:49 +0000

Yep, baseball players are much more important that the soliders who keep the 4th largest army in the world from coming over the border with no notice and enslaving their country. You know, because insane, despotic leaders of communist countires don’t do that anymore.

If baseball is such a special thing that players get exemptions, then why not artists, musicians, scientists, and medical students? Seems to me that those people serve a purpose at least as important as playing a game that doesn’t defend your country.

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 18:10:21 +0000

SK wants their athletic ambassadors alive, that’s probably why.

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:27:15 +0000

Hmm? I’d assume by the laws regarding beating your wife of some countries, you might get a tax break if you actually improve their looks…

By: fivetoolmike

fivetoolmike — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:24:09 +0000

Currently it’s any Olympic medalists or gold medalists in the Asian Games. They made an exception for the 2002 World Cup team.

By: fivetoolmike

fivetoolmike — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:23:17 +0000

What kind of backwards country is South Korea? Choo can’t even claim he’s gay to get out of serving anymore! http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/10/south-korea-rights-commission-finds-military-gay-ban-unconstitutional.php

By: Mr. Jason "El Bravo" Heyward

Mr. Jason "El Bravo" Heyward — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:19:03 +0000

What if you beat said wife into a higher level of hotness? Are there foreign laws regarding this issue?

By: chipmaker023

chipmaker023 — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:16:41 +0000

The SK government has done it before, starting with Park in 1998. This “win gold, get waived from military commitment” thing has happened before.

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:07:32 +0000

Yeah, although I’m sure he’s quite popular within baseball circles, I just don’t see this as positive PR back at home. Bringing a championship home should help immensely though. As a US citizen it seems like a great thing, but to the Koreans it may be akin to espionage. I thought beating wives as long as you don’t make them ugly was wrong, but in some countries that’s preferred, so you never know….

By: thehollar

thehollar — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:49:34 +0000

My fantasy team thinks it’s perfectly fair. If those other South Koreans are as important as Choo, why didn’t I draft them?

By: Mr. Jason "El Bravo" Heyward

Mr. Jason "El Bravo" Heyward — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:48:39 +0000

How is this not the biggest baseball news around right now? This should be a nationally televised game in the U.S. dubbed “Choo v. South Korea v. Asia” or something like that. So, how the hell did a deal get made that if he helps win his team gold in the Asian Games that he gets to skip the military in the first place?