52% of Military-Exempt Athletes Were Asian Games Football and Baseball Players

[Anchor]

As the military service exemption system sits at the center of controversy, we conducted a complete analysis of all 173 individuals granted exemptions in the fields of sports and arts since 2022 to examine who is actually receiving the benefits. Among the 80 sports personnel, national football and baseball players who won gold medals at the Asian Games accounted for more than half, revealing a heavy concentration on specific competitions and events.

Reporter Go Jeong-hyeon reports exclusively.

[Reporter]

According to Military Manpower Administration data obtained by SBS, 80 national team athletes were assigned as sports personnel under the alternative military service system between 2022 and August of this year.

Olympic medalists numbered 15, while Asian Games gold medalists reached 65, accounting for 81% of the total.

This indicates that the benefits have been concentrated on the Asian Games, where competition is relatively less intense.

Disparities among different sports were also substantial.

Out of the 80 athletes, football players accounted for 23 and baseball players for 19, making up the majority.

In particular, all of them received their benefits through the Asian Games.

This year's Asian Games was similar.

[Cho Kye-won / National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee Member (Democratic Party of Korea): "A total of 43 people are receiving benefits this time, and 36 of them are from football and baseball. Winning a world championship is much harder and more difficult than winning the Asian Games, but world championship winners receive no benefits at all."]

In the case of arts personnel receiving military service exemptions, although the number of qualifying competitions has decreased, certain domestic competitions are still recognized, fueling ongoing debate that this does not align with the system's intended purpose of "enhancing national prestige."

Among the 93 arts personnel who received exemptions over the past five years, 49 were first-place winners at domestic competitions, while 44 were first- or second-place winners at international competitions.

Several amendments to the Military Service Act have been introduced in the National Assembly.

A bill proposed by Representative Joo Ho-young focuses on removing the Asian Games from exemption eligibility and granting exemptions to figures in arts and sports with extraordinary merits through National Assembly recommendation and State Council deliberation.

A bill proposed by Representative Cha Gyu-geun calls for arts and sports personnel to pay a contribution if they earn a monthly income exceeding 5 million won.

Controversy surrounding military service exemptions for arts and sports personnel has persisted for over a decade:

[SBS Nightline (October 2014): "In this Asian Games, 59 individuals are expected to receive military exemptions. As this includes many professional athletes, voices from the political sphere are calling to reform this system..."]

With reform efforts repeatedly fizzling out due to backlash from the arts and sports communities, calls are growing that this time must be different.

(Camera by Oh Young-chun and Kim Yong-woo | Video by Park Seon-soo | Graphics by Kim Yeji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.