Choo.

Every Korean male has duty to be part of the mandatory military service of 21 months. I am not an exception and neither Shin-Soo Choo, a rising star player in the Major League.

Since I started to play baseball in the spring of 2009, I've been following his game stats and achievements. Often I was able to find the game highlights and interviews through media. It hasn't been long time since he played in the big league and I recently realized how much the difficulties would've gone through in minor leagues and trade off right after the major league contract with Seattle Mariners. In fact, the year I started to play baseball was same as the year that he started to get spot lights in Cleveland Indians. On the year, he became the only one to achieved the high standard of 20 home runs, 20 stealing bases, with .300 hitting average, which proved that he can be a slugger and a contact hitter at the same time. He also achieved the same standard in this 2010 season too.

Since he started to playing in the States, he puts Korean flag sticker on the bottom of his wooden bats, which is to remember the country and the supporters. In the last years, he participated in the Olympic and the World Baseball Classics voluntarily out of Major League season schedule. Whenever I watch him on the screen and the commentator reads his name, I feel sense of proud and admiration at the same time. Just a few days ago, the Korean national team has won the gold medal in Asian Games and granted military exemption by the government. Choo can now have a long term contract and be able to play in the Major league without giving up the Korean citizenship. It's definitely one hopeful and great news amongst the rising concern of the North Korea.