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by Cat Barton and Kang Jin-kyu
Agence France-Presse
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A former South Korean Navy SEAL turned YouTuber who risked jail time to go away Seoul and battle for Ukraine says it might have been a “crime” to not use his expertise to assist.
Ken Rhee, an ex-special warfare officer, signed up on the Ukrainian Embassy in Seoul the second President Volodymyr Zelensky requested for international volunteers and was combating on the entrance strains close to Kyiv by early March.
To get there, he needed to break South Korean legislation — Seoul banned its residents from travelling to Ukraine, and Rhee, who was injured in a fall whereas main a particular operations patrol there, was met on the airport by 15 law enforcement officials on his return.
However the celeb ex-soldier, who has a YouTube channel with 700,000 followers and documented a lot of his Ukraine expertise on his common Instagram account, says he has no regrets.
“You’re strolling down the seaside and also you see an indication by the water saying ‘no swimming’ — however you see somebody drowning. It’s a criminal offense to not assist. That’s how I see it,” he informed AFP.
Rhee was born in South Korea however raised in america. He attended the Virginia Navy Institute and deliberate to hitch the US Navy SEALS, however his father — a “patriot”, he says — satisfied his son to return to South Korea to enlist.
He served for seven years, present process each US and Korean SEAL coaching and doing a number of stints in struggle zones in Somalia and Iraq earlier than leaving to arrange a protection consultancy.
“I’ve the skillset. I’ve the expertise. I used to be in two completely different wars, and going to Ukraine, I knew I might assist,” he mentioned, including that he considered breaking South Korea’s passport legislation to go away as equal to a “visitors violation”.
– Backlash in Korea –
However the response in South Korea — the place Rhee shot to fame as a coach within the common YouTube sequence “Faux Males” — was swift and unforgiving.
“It was on the spot. Individuals in Korea, they simply criticized me about breaking the legislation,” mentioned Rhee.
His critics declare the 38-year-old’s determination was criminally irresponsible, and level to his posting of struggle footage on his YouTube and Instagram accounts as proof of showboating.
Rhee says he tries to not let the furore get to him. “I feel it’s fairly apparent who the nice guys are and who the dangerous guys are,” he mentioned of Russia and Ukraine.
On his first day on the frontline in Irpin — which he describes as “the Wild West” and “chaos” — he says he witnessed Russian struggle crimes.
“I noticed a civilian get shot. He was driving… and so they shot him via the windshield and he died in entrance of us,” he mentioned.
“It was like: there’s my proof. There’s undoubtedly struggle crimes happening. It jogged my memory and my teammates what we have been doing and why we have been there,” he mentioned.
Due to his navy coaching, Rhee was informed to arrange his personal staff, so he recruited different volunteers with fight expertise and arrange a multi-national particular operations group.
“I used to be consuming Canadian MREs. My gun was from the Czech Republic. I’ve a Javelin missile from america. I’ve a rocket that’s from Germany… however nothing is Korean,” he mentioned.
He tried to take his Korean-made evening imaginative and prescient goggles however was not given authorities export permission. Seoul has supplied non-lethal help to Kyiv, however Rhee mentioned they might do extra.
“Korea has state-of-the-art tools… they’re superb at making weapons,” he mentioned.
– ‘See you in Taiwan’ –
Russia mentioned earlier this month that 13 South Koreans had travelled to Ukraine — together with 4 who have been killed. Seoul mentioned it was attempting to confirm the claims.
Though Rhee didn’t know the destiny of all his teammates, he mentioned “a number of my pals have died”.
“I don’t need my pals’ sacrifices to be forgotten,” he mentioned, including that he plans to put in writing a e book — and perhaps a screenplay — about his staff’s experiences.
However first, he must take care of the official repercussions of his journey. He’s quietly optimistic South Korea’s new conservative administration gained’t put him in jail.
Rhee is just not allowed to go away the nation till his case is resolved, and is receiving therapy for his accidents. However he hopes someday to battle alongside his teammates once more, for a trigger they imagine in.
The joke as individuals left the frontline was: “See you in Taiwan,” he mentioned, referring darkly to the chance that Beijing will observe Moscow’s lead and invade a neighboring democracy.
© Agence France-Presse
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