Chinese: Bing (;) is the rank usually held by enlisted personnel in some East Asian militaries. The ranks are used in both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan, and both North and South Korea. The rank name is based on one of the four ancient occupations.
The Sino-Korean word component "Korean: byeong" means "soldier" literally, used in a wide variety of words related with soldiers, like in Korean: busang-byeong (Korean: 부상병; Hanja: Chinese: 負傷兵,), but rarely (usually in technical context in armed forces) per se.
Korean: Byeongjangs, who work closely with their US military counterparts, are frequently addressed as "sergeant" or the equivalent E-5 term in English by the U.S. military. This varies however by unit. In a similar vein, some US E-5s are called hasa by the ROKA members, as their status is one of an NCO.
The various ranks of Korean: byeong are denoted by stripes worn laterally on a service member's left sleeve. An even lower rank, that of mudeungbyeong (Korean: 무등병; Hanja: Chinese: 無等兵,), also known as hullyeonbyeong (Korean: 훈련병; Hanja: Chinese: 訓鍊兵,), is usually believed to be held by enlisted recruits in basic training, and those recruits are not allowed to have any insignia on their uniform until they finish the training course, but they are actually regarded to be ideungbyeong (the lowest byeong rank) officially.
In most comparative military scales, a Korean: Byeongjang is considered the equivalent of a non-commissioned officer equal to a sergeant. The South Korean military, however, does not generally grant NCO powers to a service member until obtaining the rank of hasa. Still, Korean: Byeongjang in South Korea is exceptionally considered as an NCO when holding the squad leader position.
The word byeong (soldier) has a natural context that personnel in those ranks are not in commanding responsibilities, thus not NCOs at all. They are strictly distinguished from the ranks above in many respects. Personnel with ranks of hasa or above are called ganbu (Korean: 간부; Hanja: Chinese: 幹部,), as an antonym of byeong. South Korea's South Korean military are retained by the conscription system. If a person is enlisted to an armed force and has not applied for NCO or officer, then his highest rank until he finishes the mandatory service term (21 months in case of the ROK Army, as of 2012) is to be the highest rank of byeong (i.e. Korean: Byeongjang).
The same rank names are used for all services, prefixed by Chinese: haijun or Chinese: kongjun .
| Rank group | Enlisted | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese: 上等兵 Chinese: Shàngděngbīng | Chinese: 列兵 Chinese: Lièbīng | ||
| [1] | |||
| [2] | |||
| [3] | |||
| Chinese: 上等兵 Chinese: Shàngděngbīng | Chinese: 列兵 Chinese: Lièbīng | ||
| Rank group | Enlisted | ||
| Rank group | Enlisted | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Chinese: 上等兵 | Chinese: 一等兵 | Chinese: 二等兵 | |
| Mandarin | Chinese: Shàngděngbīng | Chinese: Yīděngbīng | Chinese: Èrděngbīng | |
| Taiwanese | Chinese: Siōng-téng Peng | Chinese: It-téng Peng | Chinese: Jī-téng Peng | |
| Literal translation | Upper class soldier | First class soldier | Second class soldier | |
| [4] | ||||
| Republic of China Military Police | ||||
| Chinese: 上等兵 Chinese: Shàngděngbīng | Chinese: 一等兵 Chinese: Yīděngbīng | Chinese: 二等兵 Chinese: Èrděngbīng | ||
| Rank group | Enlisted | |||
See also: Military ranks of South Korea.
| Hangul: | 병 |
| Hanja: | 兵 |
| Rr: | Byeong |
| Mr: | Pyŏng |
| Rank group | Enlisted | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hangul | Korean: 병장 | Korean: 상등병 | Korean: 일등병 | Korean: 이등병 | |
| Hanja | Korean: 兵長 | Korean: 上等兵 | Korean: 一等兵 | Korean: 二等兵 | |
| Romanization | Korean: Byeongjang | Korean: Sangdeungbyeong | Korean: Ildeungbyeong | Korean: Ideungbyeong | |
| Literal translation | Soldier chief | Superior soldier | First class soldier | Second class soldier | |
| Official translation[5] | Sergeant | Corporal | Private first class | Private | |
| Official translation[6] | Petty officer second class | Petty officer third class | Seaman | Seaman apprentice | |
| [7] | |||||
| Korean: 병장 兵長 Korean: Byeongjang | Korean: 상등병 上等兵 Korean: Sangdeungbyeong | Korean: 일등병 一等兵 Korean: Ildeungbyeong | Korean: 이등병 二等兵 Korean: Ideungbyeong | ||
| Rank group | Enlisted | ||||
| Rank group | Enlisted | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnamese | Vietnamese: Binh nhất | Vietnamese: Binh nhì | |
| Literal translation | First soldier | Second soldier | |
| [8] | |||
| Vietnamese | Vietnamese: Binh nhất | Vietnamese: Binh nhì | |
| Rank group | Enlisted | ||
See main article: South Vietnamese military ranks and insignia.
| Rank group | Enlisted | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Native name | Vietnamese: Binh nhất | Vietnamese: Binh nhì | |
| Literal translation | First soldier | Second soldier | |
[9] | No insignia | ||
| Translation | Private first class | Private | |
| No insignia | |||
| Translation | Seaman | Recruit | |
| No insignia | |||
| Translation | Private first class | Private | |
| Translation | Airman first class | Airman | |
| Native name | Vietnamese: Binh nhất | Vietnamese: Binh nhì | |
| Rank group | Enlisted | ||
