Taking Aim at Military Service Exemptions for Athletes: "Consensus on Phased Abolition"

[Anchor]

Controversy continues to simmer after some athletes who won gold medals at the Asian Games made remarks and behaved as though they competed solely to secure military service exemptions. A total of 57 athletes are set to receive alternative service benefits through this competition, and amid mounting criticism, the Ministry of National Defense stated its position to ultimately pursue reducing or abolishing the system.

Reporter Choi Jae-yeong has the details.

[Reporter]

[Lee Ki-hyuk / Captain, Asian Games Men's Football Team (on October 3): "I'm not going to the military."]

From posting photos on social media wearing military discharge caps to giving interviews saying they "played solely looking forward to the reward of military exemption," Asian Games gold medalists have drawn severe backlash.

Public sentiment has turned cold over their playful and careless remarks and actions that treated military service obligations lightly.

The Ministry of National Defense stated that it "finds this deeply regrettable" and announced plans to overhaul the military service exemption system.

[Jung Bit-na / Ministry of National Defense Spokesperson (yesterday): "Taking into comprehensive account equity and fairness, the declining pool of military manpower, and public consensus, we will ultimately reflect the reduction or abolition of supplementary service personnel, including arts and sports personnel, into the Basic Plan for Defense Reform..."]

The Military Manpower Administration is currently conducting a research study on measures to improve military service benefits in the arts and sports sectors.

The results of the study are expected around November 15, and given the reality of declining military manpower, authorities are likely to take decisive action, particularly regarding the sports sector.

A government official said, "A consensus has been formed toward phasing out the system for the sports sector."

For the arts sector, the bar has already been raised by reducing the eligible competitions from 148 in 2008 to 35 at present.

In contrast, the sports sector has maintained the same criteria since 1990: placing third or higher at the Olympics or finishing first at the Asian Games.

With political circles also largely viewing this through the lens of fairness, such as equity with pop culture artists, moves to revise related laws are expected to gain momentum.

The military service exemption system, which has been in place for 53 years, now stands at a crossroads of survival, starting with the sports sector.

(Camera: Kim Hyun-sang, Video Editing: Park Chun-bae, Design: Lee Jong-jeong, Video Source: X (@wiriness) · Instagram playkfa)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.