Shin-Soo Choo sleeps easy after earning likely exemption from military service

South Korea has a little rule that requires all able-bodied men to serve two years in the army before the age of 30. Shin-Soo Choo is a 28-year-old baseball player for the Cleveland Indians who is originally from South Korea and would probably prefer to keep playing baseball over enlisting in the armed forces. Thankfully for him, it appears he won’t have to.

South Korea has regularly granted a service exemption to athletes who earn a gold medal in the Asian games (which must make that shameful silver even harder to handle than usual). Choo is the best player on the South Korean squad and entered Friday’s final against Taiwan knowing that with a win he’d spend the next two years being paid handsomely to play a game and with a loss he’d spend them peering over a fence making sure Kim Jong-Il doesn’t touch the big red button. Talk about pressure.

“Honestly, if [I told you] I didn’t think about the military service, I might be a liar,” he told Korean reporters, according to MLB.com.

“But it wasn’t the primary reason to join in national team. I love baseball, and whenever I put the national flag on the shoulder, I am really proud of my nation and myself.”

Yeah, but I imagine it’s a lot easier to proud of your nation in a 4-bedroom house in the Cleveland suburbs than a barracks in Seoul. With two years of his life on the line, Choo & the South Koreans emerged victorious and while official word has not yet been received of Choo’s exemption, it is considered but a formality at this point. Muhammad Ali wishes the American government of the 1960′s held such similar reverence for sporting accomplishment.

Congratulations to Mr. Choo and and the rest of his countrymen on their triumph in the Asian games. Here’s hoping the South Korean army wasn’t looking for an infantryman with opposite-field power and range in right field, though. Those guys don’t come along too often.

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Will win in Asian Games help Shin-Soo Choo avoid military? [CNN.com]