EXCLUSIVE: Eight Athletes Benefited from Both Military Exemption and Special Apartment Allocations

[Anchor]

We previously reported that there have been a considerable number of cases where athletes received special apartment presales without competition through "special housing allocations for distinguished athletes" with just a single Asian Games medal. It has now been confirmed that among the athletes who received such special allocations, eight also benefited from military service exemptions.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin reports.

[Reporter]

Actual transaction prices for this apartment complex in Incheon have doubled in the five years since its presale in 2021.

[Local real estate agent: For an 84-square-meter unit, the presale price was in the late 300 million to early 400 million won range. This has now doubled.]

Although the competition rate for general public subscriptions was 43 to 1, former national team athlete A secured an apartment without competition through the "special housing allocation system for distinguished athletes."

This was possible due to their record of placing in events such as the World Championships and the Universiade, and it was confirmed that seven years ago, they also received a military service exemption for an "Asian Games team event medal."

It has effectively become a "series of benefits," ranging from military service to housing. Among the 72 athletes who benefited from special apartment allocations over the past five years, a total of eight athletes, like Athlete A, were found to have also received military exemptions.

Looking only at the 41 male athletes subject to military service, the proportion was about one in five.

Yesterday (October 21) at the parliamentary audit of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee.

Criticisms followed that such special exceptions for these athletes amounted to preferential privileges.

Democratic Party Lawmaker Lim Oh-kyeong, a former national team handball player, called for abolishing military service exemptions for the Asian Games.

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

[Yoo Seung-min / President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee: No.]

Yoo Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, acknowledged the shortcomings in character education for national athletes, but expressed a cautious stance regarding the abolition of military exemptions.

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

There are also growing calls that stern measures, such as convening disciplinary committees, should be considered for sports governing bodies or individual athletes that drew public criticism for inappropriate behavior, such as "military exemption ceremonies," during the last Asian Games.

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