Sehyeon (20), the eldest grandson of former President Park Chung-hee and the eldest son of Park Ji-man, chairman of EG Co., is said to have completed training as a Marine Corps enlisted soldier of the 1323rd class on the 4th.
According to materials The Chosun Ilbo obtained through the Marine Corps Veterans Association on the 16th, Chairman Park and his wife, Seo Hyang-hee, attended the completion ceremony for the 1323rd class of enlisted soldiers held at the Marine Corps Education and Training Group in Pohang, North Gyeongsang, on the 4th. Sehyeon is the first of four sons of Chairman Park and Seo, and returned to Korea while studying in the United States and enlisted voluntarily in the Marine Corps on Oct. 27.
Chairman Park and his wife visited the ceremony in person that day to encourage their son. Facing his father, Chairman Park, Sehyeon stated his rank and name and gave a salute. He was seen tearing up during the salute, and Chairman Park responded by hugging his son.
At the ceremony, Sehyeon received the U.S. Marine Corps General's Award. In his address, Brig. Gen. Lee Jong-moon, head of the Education and Training Group, said, "To the 1323rd Marines, thank you to your families, relatives, friends, and all of you," and added, "Our 1323rd class trained and learned so hard that a cold wave felt like nothing." Sehyeon is reportedly set to be assigned to a front-line Marine unit.
This is said to be the first time Sehyeon has appeared in public since becoming an adult. His choice of the Marine Corps also stands out, differing from the family tradition of Army service. His grandfather, former President Park, left service as an Army general, and his father, Chairman Park, left as a captain from the 37th class of the Korea Military Academy, but Sehyeon is understood to have applied to the Marine Corps by his own choice.