Two Players Win Military Service Exemptions Without Playing a Single Minute... Park Seung-su Logs 17 Minutes Amid Gore-Cap Controversy

Out of the 20 national football team players who won gold medals at the recent Asian Games and became eligible for military service exemptions, 7 players recorded a total playing time of less than one hour.

According to data obtained from the Korea Football Association by the office of People Power Party lawmaker Song Eon-seok, 20 players on the football team received military service benefits through the gold medal, excluding those who had already completed their military service. Among them, 7 players played for less than a total of one hour.

In particular, goalkeepers Kim Min-seung and Lee Seung-hwan did not play a single minute while the national football team played five matches.

Instead, goalkeeper Kim Jun-hong played in all five matches, and he had already completed his military service.

Defenders Park Kyeong-sub and Choi Woo-jin each appeared in one match and played for just one minute.

Defender Kang Min-jun played for 6 minutes in one match, and Park Seong-hoon appeared in two matches, playing a total of 7 minutes.

Park Seung-su, who became embroiled in controversy after posting a photo wearing a military discharge cap after the final match, was found to have played a total of 17 minutes across three matches.

According to military service regulations, winning first place at the Asian Games in a team sport such as football makes everyone eligible for military service exemptions regardless of individual playing time.

Previously, players had to participate in at least one match to receive the benefit, but this requirement was abolished in 2020 following controversies that players were being put on the field for even a single minute regardless of the flow of the game just to secure the benefit.

Lawmaker Song Eon-seok stated, "Military service exemptions for Asian Games gold medalists are an outdated system that falls behind the changing times," adding, "To establish fairness and equity in military service, I will propose an amendment to the Military Service Act to abolish the arts and sports personnel military service exemption system."

Reported by Park Se-won | Video by Lee Da-in | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.