VEGETARIAN MEALS IN THE MILITARY

[Anchor Lead]

Last year the Korean military started to provide vegetarian meals to its troops who don’t eat meat. But we've been getting in reports that peer pressure and other difficulties force only a handful of soldiers to stick to vegetarianism. Here are the details

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For vegetarians, military-style hamburgers are not a treat but torture. They cannot eat not only meat, but also salad with mayonnaise dressing or even milk.

[Soundbite] JUN BUM-SUN(SINGER(STARTED MILITARY IN 2016)) : "I was starving so I had some spicy pork. But then I had to go to the infirmary for indigestion."

The military decided to provide vegetarian meals as the number of people like Jeon grew and the public spotlight was placed on this issue following a National Human Rights Commission’s petition. Here’s a meal comprised of salad and tofu. This was what a vegetarian soldier got for his lunch a few days ago. But his peers still thought he was peculiar. Vegetarians account for 2 to 3% of the Korean population, but only ten soldiers out of the entire South Korean Army said they were vegetarians. That means there are more so-called "hidden vegetarians".

[Soundbite] JEONG TAE-HYEON(ENTERED MILITARY IN 2020) : "It is hard for an individual to make such a request in an atmosphere that seems to force the notion that the military should be unified."

Let’s take a look at how a shy vegetarian is dealing with this month’s meal plan. If he is a vegan, he has to go hungry six times a month and eat only rice 16 times. His calorie intake would not even be half that of a non-vegetarian soldier.

[Soundbite] JO GIL-YE(CEO, VEGAN CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK) : "When a soldier states that he’s a vegetarian at the start of his military service, it should be recorded in his personal information file, automatically allowing him to have vegetarian meals even when he is transferred to another unit."

The U.S. military provides vegetarian options even for their field rations. The South Korean military said they will continue to make efforts to respect diversity by introducing meals, such as halal, next year.