Footballer Kim Jin-ya Found Not Guilty in 1st Trial Over Alleged Military Service Exemption Record Falsification

Footballer Kim Jin-ya, who received a military service exemption after winning the gold medal at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, has been found not guilty in the first trial of a criminal case on charges of violating the Military Service Act.

The Incheon District Court announced on the 12th that it acquitted Kim of charges that he overlapped or synthesized public service records and submitted them falsely, stating that "there is insufficient evidence to recognize intent."

Previously, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism discovered circumstances where dates and times overlapped or documents were synthesized in the public service confirmation certificate submitted at the end of 2022, leading to a disciplinary warning against Kim and a decision to file a criminal complaint.

Kim filed an administrative lawsuit seeking to cancel the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's warning, but his defeat was finalized in the appellate court.

However, the criminal court ruled that it was difficult to recognize criminal intent, noting that an agent handled the actual document submission tasks and that Kim himself used an application that automatically recorded his public service hours and location.

In particular, the time in question accounted for only an hour and a half out of a total 544 hours of public service, leading the court to judge that the possibility of intentionally submitting false documents to inflate hours was low.

The court also based its decision on the fact that only intentional offenders are subject to punishment for violating the Military Service Act by submitting false records, and there are no provisions to punish negligent offenses.

An official from Kim's side expressed their stance, saying, "We feel apologetic just for being embroiled in controversy related to the Military Service Act, and Kim will dedicate himself more to football and volunteer work moving forward."
 

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.