Growing up in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City with one Korean parent, military service in a distant homeland often feels like a foreign obligation. Korea’s Military Manpower Administration set out to change that Thursday, opening its doors to a group of multicultural Korean-Vietnamese youth for an immersive trial of the nation's draft system. South Korea enforces a mandatory military service system requiring all able-bodied adult men to serve for 18 to 21 months to maintain defense readiness against North Korea. The new initiative brought about 20 youths and chaperones to military facilities in Daejeon and North Chungcheong Province, marking an expansion of government efforts to integrate the diaspora into that national defense apparatus. Under the banner of the "Overseas Citizens Military Service Connection Project," the program targets young dual-nationals and overseas residents, helping them navigate a complex civic duty every South Korean male must eventually face. Three participants born in 2007 — who reached the official draft age this year — found that the experience went beyond s