Eight Athletes Received Both Military Exemptions and Special Apartment Allotments

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Last week, we reported on cases where athletes were allotted apartments through the special housing supply program for distinguished athletes based on a single Asian Games medal. It has now come to light that among the athletes who received these special allotments, eight also received military service exemptions. At the parliamentary audit, criticisms mounted that these benefits were excessive.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin has this exclusive report.

[Reporter]

The actual transaction price of this apartment complex in Incheon has doubled in the five years since its pre-sale in 2021.

[Local Real Estate Agent: For an 84-square-meter unit, (the pre-sale price was) in the high 300 million to low 400 million won range. That has now doubled.]

While the competition ratio for general pre-sale applications was 43 to 1, former national team athlete "A" secured an allotment without competition through the "special housing supply program for distinguished athletes."

This was possible due to podium finishes at competitions such as the World Championships and the Universiade; it was also confirmed that seven years ago, A was granted a military service exemption for winning a medal in a team event at the Asian Games.

It has effectively become a "series of perks" spanning from military service to housing. Out of 72 athletes who benefited from the special apartment allotments over the past five years, a total of eight athletes, like A, were found to have received military exemptions as well.

Looking specifically at the 41 male athletes subject to military service duties, that amounts to one in five.

At Wednesday's (October 21) parliamentary audit of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee,

criticisms mounted that these special provisions for athletes amount to undue privileges.

Democratic Party Representative Lim O-kyeong, a former national handball player, called for the abolition of military service exemptions for the Asian Games.

[Lim O-kyeong / Democratic Party Lawmaker: I agree that military service exemptions for the Asian Games should be abolished. Did athletes start sports just to get exempt from military service?]

[Ryu Seung-min / President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee: No, they did not.]

Ryu Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, acknowledged shortcomings in the basic education and character training of national athletes, but expressed caution regarding the abolition of military exemptions.

[Ryu Seung-min / President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee: There are a great number of amateur athletes. The voices of those athletes must also be reflected...]

There are also widespread calls for stern measures, such as disciplinary hearings, against sports organizations or individual athletes who drew criticism for inappropriate conduct, including "military exemption ceremonies," at past Asian Games.

(Video by Oh Young-chun, Shin Dong-hwan, and Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Jang Hyun-ki | Graphics by Kim Ye-ji | Data provided by the Office of Rep. Jang Kyung-tae (National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee))

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