Not really. US knows it’s mandatory, so no. Unless it’s voluntary…
Anyway, whether you go or not, colleges don’t give you money for that, and I would be surprised if South Korea gives you some scholarship for it. I doubt it would ever happen because as a South Korean myself…I believe that my country never rewards enough their citizens.
Also, why do you want to spend 1.5~2 years in military??
Go to military AFTER you graduate. There are NO pro going to military before college because no US college cares.
There are cons though for going to military during/before the school
1)it may cause you to lose sense of studying.
2) Going back and forth the country is time-wasting. Also, you will forget virtually everything you learned.
3) You may have to deal with meticulous, frustrating and time-consuming visa work
However, there are pros for going to army AFTER college.
- You may be treated better thanks to your English skill and good education background, assuming you didn’t completely bomb the class.
- You can apply for jobs right after the army duty ends.
Also, are you able to afford at least 45k~65k per year?? Not many Korean families can afford that much these days.