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[[File:Flag_of_South_Korea.svg|thumb|150px|Flag of South Korea]]
'''South Korea''', a traditionally non-circumcising nation, nevertheless, adopted the practice of non-therapeutic [[circumcision]] during and after the Korean War (1950-53). The adoption of [[circumcision ]] may be traced to 1950, when the [[United States ]] intervened in the Korean War and large numbers of mostly [[circumcised ]] American troops were sent into South Korea to aid in its defense.<ref name="kim1999">{{REFjournal
|last=Kim
|first=
|init=DS
|author-link=DaiSik Kim
|last2=Lee
|first2=
|quote=
}}</ref>
A 1971 study of men who were being examined for military service found that only five percent of the men were [[circumcised]]. These men must have been born just before or during the Korean War, but were not [[circumcised]], so this indicates that the onset of non-therapeutic circumcision is of more recent vintage.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Jung
|init=KM
===Concept of "naturally circumcised"===
Korean men have invented several reasons that they do not need a surgical [[adult circumcision| circumcision]], such as their [[foreskin]] is short, that it retracts when they have an [[erection]], that it is not phimosed, or other reasons. This is called "naturally circumcised".<ref name="kim1999" />
===Usual age for circumcision===
Most Korean males are [[circumcised]] not in infancy but at puberty, as teenagers or in their 20s, so it is now viewed as a "rite of passage". [[Circumcision ]] in infancy is rare in South Korea.<ref name="kim1999" /> Ku ''et al''. (2003) reported "a positive attitude toward circumcision in South Korean men, linking it with hygienic practices." They also reported the decision to circumcise was most often made by parents.<ref name="ku2003">{{REFjournal
|last=Ku
|first=
|first2=
|init2=DS
|author2-link=DaiSik Kim
|etal=no
|title=Extraordinarily high rates of male circumcision in South Korea: history and underlying causes
===Incidence and prevalence===
The incidence of circumcision was found to exceed 100 percent, since the number of older males being [[circumcised]], exceeded the birth rate.<ref name="pang2002" />
The prevalence of circumcision was 93 percent in the 20-year-old age group and 60 percent over all ages.<ref name="pang2002" />
|first=DaiSik
|init=
|auntol-link=DaiSik Kim
|last2=Pang
|first2=Myung-Geol
|first=DaiSik
|init=
|author-link=DaiSik Kim
|last2=Koo
|first2= Sung-Ae Koo