Model-turned entrepreneur Cool K (real name Kim Do-kyung, 44) is speaking out about the draft-evasion scandal that has shadowed him for two decades.
On September 14, he shared a video on social media reflecting on the past. “People ask what I regret,” he said. “I made a terrible choice. Twenty years have gone by, and I tried to forget it, to rewrite the past, but I couldn’t. The more I tried, the more I stayed trapped in the same mistake.”
“In my 20s, I didn’t want to serve and I made a choice I never should have,” he continued. “I still get criticized ― and I deserve it. I deeply regret trying to dodge the draft just because I didn’t want to go. I completed my service afterward, including reserve and civil defense duties, but the point is I let myself stay stuck in that mistake.”
He added a message about moving forward: “We can’t change past choices ― they’re part of our lives. It took me a long time to accept that. What matters is what we choose from this moment on. Maybe not everything will change, but let yourself go from the past you regret so badly. Better days are waiting.”
Cool K was initially deemed fit for active duty but sought to avoid service by obtaining a Level 4 classification. He was caught and, in October 2008, received an eight-month prison sentence suspended for two years. The following month, he enlisted and completed his mandatory military service.
Last year, he relocated to Bangkok, Thailand, and has been living as a digital nomad, juggling work as a music video director, apparel entrepreneur, and DJ.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)