For the 34-year-old Korean-American, Kang Joon, what irritates him the most is not the fact that he has to serve in the nation's military after having lived in the United States for more than 25 years. What really bothers him is that he is now stuck with a janitor's job despite being a recipient of the prestigious National Defense Medal, an award he was given for his service in the U.S. Air Force during the first Gulf War.

Kang and his family moved to the U.S. in 1976 and he served in the U.S. armed forces from 1991 through 1993. "I mean I didn't do it (serve in the U.S. military) just for the U.S. I also did it for Korea," Kang said during an interview with The Korea Times on Friday.

"My father was a Korean War veteran and I knew the U.S. and other allies helped his country during the war. So I wanted to serve one of its allies because I thought I would never serve in the Korean army," he said.

Kang came back to live in his motherland when he was 32 years old after both his parents passed away in the U.S. "I knew any male had to serve in the military (in Korea), but I thought the age limit was 32. My pastor also told me that I'd be exempt from the Korean military service because I served in the U.S. military," Kang said.

However, when Kang tried to apply for his citizen's registration card, he found out that he was still required to serve out his mandatory two years as the Defense Ministry had changed their age limit to 35 a few years ago.

Because of his age, Kang was assigned to a county office to work as a kongik-yowon, or public servant. The service as kongik-yowon is substitute for compulsory military obligation. Kang reports to his superiors at a public park in Mt. Namsan, Seoul, at 9 in the morning and is discharged at 6:00 p.m. everyday.

Picking up trash, controlling traffic and working at the ticket booth pretty much covers his entire job description as a kongik-yowon. "We shouldn't be working for some lazy government workers. We should be working for other people at hospitals, orphanages or other welfare facilities where we can at least contribute something to the society," he said.

However, his problems do not only come from his "meaningless" duty as a kongik-yowon, but also from his very own survival. The government pays him 26,000 won a month ($21) and some 110,000 won for lunch and transportation.

"I asked officials at the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) what I was going to eat and where I was going to sleep after I get off work. They said it wasn't their problem," he said. Luckily for Kang, he had enough money saved up from his previous English teaching job at a private language institute to provide him a little apartment to go to after work.

Still, the government-paid salary was nowhere close to being enough for his living. He was forced to teach young South Korean children English to make a decent living, but still doesn't know what he is going to do after he is done with his military service.

Kang says he is still not against the nation's mandatory draft system because it is a necessary evil. "The problem with this country is that too many people think that our country is the only one in the world that has a mandatory draft system. Who's going to fight if there's war?" he said.

"My biggest concern was my language because I don't speak Korean that well. Also, I was too old for the military," he said. Kang said he tried to explain his situation to the officials at the MMA, but the officials appeared to be more resentful of his questions and requests because they thought he was only trying to dodge his military duty.

"What irked me more than anything else was that they kept saying duty, duty and duty," he said. Kang argued the officials were in no position to argue about one's duty because they certainly aren't fulfilling theirs.

"In my opinion, they were just there to collect their paychecks because for a government worker duty means to serve the people and to meet the needs of the people, but they weren't paying attention to any of my requests. They just kept saying `I don't know' when I asked them what I was going to eat or where I was going to live. As long as it wasn't their problem, they didn't care," he said.

When contacted for a comment, an official at the MMA, who declined to reveal his name, said anyone and everyone was required to serve in the military no matter what.

When asked if they could not have made an exception for the U.S. war veteran, they said they were simply two different countries.