(; ) is the rank usually held by

enlisted personnel An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States ...

in some

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

n militaries. The ranks are used in both the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, and both

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The rank name is based on one of the four ancient occupations.

Etymology

The Sino-Korean word component "" means "soldier" literally, used in a wide variety of words related with soldiers, like in (;

Hanja Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

: , ), but rarely (usually in technical context in armed forces) ''per se''. s, who work closely with their US military counterparts, are frequently addressed as "sergeant" or the equivalent E-5 term in English by the U.S. military. This varies however by unit. In a similar vein, some US E-5s are called ''hasa'' by the ROKA members, as their status is one of an NCO.

History

The various ranks of are denoted by stripes worn laterally on a service member's left sleeve. An even lower rank, that of ''

mudeungbyeong ''Mudeungbyeong'' (literally "rank-less soldier") is a term describing the lowest possible military rank in the armed forces of South Korea. It is the combined equivalent of an army recruit or seaman recruit in other militaries of the world. ...

'' (;

: , ), also known as ''hullyeonbyeong'' (;

: , ), is usually believed to be held by enlisted recruits in

basic training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique dema ...

, and those recruits are not allowed to have any insignia on their uniform until they finish the training course, but they are actually regarded to be ''ideungbyeong'' (the lowest ''byeong'' rank) officially. In most comparative military scales, a is considered the equivalent of a

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

equal to a

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

. The South Korean military, however, does not generally grant NCO powers to a service member until obtaining the rank of '' hasa''. Still, in South Korea is exceptionally considered as an NCO when holding the squad leader position. The word ''byeong'' (soldier) has a natural context that personnel in those ranks are not in commanding responsibilities, thus not NCOs at all. They are strictly distinguished from the ranks above in many respects. Personnel with ranks of '' hasa'' or above are called ''ganbu'' (;

: , ), as an antonym of ''byeong''.

South Korean military The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the Military, armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel ...

are retained by the

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

system. If a person is enlisted to an armed force and has not applied for NCO or officer, then his highest rank until he finishes the mandatory service term (21 months in case of the

ROK Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the largest of the military branches of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces with 365,00 ...

Etymology

History

Chinese variant

People's Liberation Army

Republic of China Armed Forces

Korean variant

Vietnamese variant

South Vietnamese variant

See also

References