S.Korea: Man Convicted of Gaining Weight to Avoid Military Draft

Improve the News Foundation -

Facts

  • A 26-year-old man was on Tuesday sentenced to a one-year prison term, suspended for two years, for deliberately gaining excessive weight to dodge mandatory military service in breach of South Korea's Military Service Act.[1][2]
  • The defendant was found guilty earlier this month of doubling his daily food intake and drinking large amounts of water before physical examinations in an attempt to become eligible for social service work.[3][4]
  • Assessed at grade two in his initial physical exam in October 2017, the man postponed enlistment several times. He received a grade four classification in December 2022 and June 2023, as his weight jumped from 83 kg (183 lbs) to more than 100 kg.[3][4][5]
  • The court also found that a friend who encouraged the man to follow this plan was guilty of aiding and abetting, sentencing him to six months in prison, suspended for one year.[6][7]
  • With only a few exceptions, all able-bodied male South Korean citizens between 18 and 35 must perform military service for at least 18 months. As of 2022, the country's armed forces had 500K active and 3.1M reserve officers.[8][9]
  • Over 350 people dodged compulsory military service illegally last year — the highest figure on record. In 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled that alternative civilian roles must be provided for those who don't want to take up arms due to religious or political reasons.[6][5]

Sources: [1]Associated Press, [2]Al Jazeera, [3]Koreajoongangdaily, [4]Korea Herald, [5]France 24, [6]CNN, [7]NBC, [8]Business Insider and [9]Daily Mail.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Financial Times. It's common sense that it would be better if South Korea could get rid of the military draft and move to an all-volunteer armed force — the country simply can't, though. Other armies that rely on all-volunteer forces are already struggling to recruit soldiers, and that could be even worse in South Korea as its birth rate falls.
  • Narrative B, as provided by New York Times. While an all-volunteer system may be unfeasible right now, South Korea should focus on increasing the number of volunteer soldiers and reducing that of conscripts. Even in the face of military threats from North Korea, it's pretty odd that South Korea remains one of the few industrialized countries that still draft its young people.

Predictions