"Are Military Service Exemptions Okay?" Debated for 36 Years... Why It Doesn't Change

[Anchor]

The system that exempts Asian Games gold medalists from military service has been in place for 36 years. As times have changed, the criteria for promoting national prestige have shifted, and even global stars like BTS have fulfilled their military duties. Voices calling for a change to the system have persisted, but there has been no change.

Reporter Hong Seok-jun takes a closer look at why.

[Reporter]

The military service exemption system was first introduced in the 1970s to promote national prestige and foster arts and sports talents.

Originally granting benefits for all medals, the Asian Games changed to recognizing only gold medalists in 1990, and that broad framework has been maintained ever since.

Over the past 36 years, claims that the system should be revised to fit changing times have been steadily raised. In particular, immediate after the 2018 Jakarta Games, fierce controversy erupted as critics argued that professional baseball players easily defeated clearly inferior teams to receive benefits.

At the time, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee considered pushing for the introduction of a so-called mileage-based military service exemption system, which accumulates points based on performances in various international competitions.

[Lee Kee-heung / Former President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (2018): In fact, the World Championships are an even bigger event than the Asian Games. However, until now, there have been no such benefits for the World Championships. Through public discussion processes for (the mileage system) to gather public opinion, and then consulting with the government...]hak

However, this ultimately failed to lead to change.

The biggest reason is that a consensus was not reached among the sports organizations regarding the specific implementation plans for alternatives such as the mileage-based exemption system.

Introducing the mileage system requires assigning weight values to each sport and competition, but the popularity of sports, the prestige of competitions, and the difficulty of winning medals vary wildly, and the sharp clash of interests among different sports prevents them from finding common ground.

In addition, the Military Manpower Administration is known to have opposed it due to the high possibility that exemption cases would increase if the mileage system were introduced.

Amidst this background, as comparisons are drawn with the cases of popular culture stars, the argument to abolish military service exemptions altogether is gaining momentum.

With global K-pop stars like BTS, who have contributed far more to promoting national prestige than the average athlete, faithfully fulfilling their military service, voices asking whether it is right to exempt Asian Games gold medalists from military service are growing louder.

Attention is focused on whether a social consensus can finally be reached this time regarding how to measure the promotion of national prestige and how far exemptions should be recognized in front of mandatory military service, under the current system where controversy could ignite at any time.

(Video by Choi Dae-woong | Video Editing by Lee Seung-jin | Source: X, formerly Twitter)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.