Exemption from military service for South Korean football players who won the gold medal in the recent Asian Games turned into a curse after the campaign of criticism that targeted them as a result of the way they celebrated, which prompted the authorities to consider putting an end to this exemption.
Physically able males are usually required to perform military service in South Korea, ranging from 18 months to two years before turning 28.
However, the government grants an exemption from this service to winners of the gold medal in the Asian Games or any Olympic medal, so that athletes who qualify for this exemption are satisfied with undergoing three weeks of basic military training, and performing 544 hours of community service related to their specialty during a period extending 34 months.
“I will not perform my military service,” team captain Lee Ji-hyuk said, celebrating after defeating host Japan in the final of the soccer competition earlier this month, adding that he would have had to join the barracks nine days later if his team had not won.
The controversy was also intensified by a video clip of Park Seung-soo, a youth team player for Newcastle United, England, in which he appeared wearing a military demobilization cap tilted to one side while he was giving the military salute with a smile.
Sports Minister Chae Hui-yong told lawmakers during a parliamentary oversight session last Wednesday: “I think there is broad public consensus on the need to make the system fairer and subject it to more stringent standards.”
He added: “We have no choice but to move towards reducing it.”
He pointed out that the relevant government agencies will work together to develop “comprehensive procedures” in this regard, without revealing additional details.
In a separate session, Defense Minister Kang Chin-chul said his ministry's goal was to "gradually reduce the exemption until it is completely abolished."
The two players apologized in light of the controversy, and Lee, a 26-year-old defender who plays in the local league, described his statements as “unconsidered.”
An official familiar with the compulsory conscription process, who requested anonymity, told Agence France-Presse: “What this controversy clearly demonstrated is that military exemptions have come to be seen as a reward, even though only a few dozen benefit from them every year.”
He added that a limited number of lucky people publicly flaunting their exemption as if it were a reward “symbolically turns military service into a punishment for about 180,000 young men who are called upon every year to serve their country.”
South and North Korea are still technically at war, as the conflict between them in the period 1950-1953 ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
But under a system approved in 1973, athletes crowned at the Olympics and Asian Games, as well as artists winning certain competitions, can benefit from an exemption, under the pretext of “strengthening national prestige and promoting culture.”
Military exemptions are a sensitive issue in South Korea, and athletes usually avoid talking about it publicly.
Former English Tottenham star Son Heung-min was one of the most prominent previous cases of obtaining an exemption after leading his country to win gold in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.
When Son was asked about the exemption after the final, he said: “Instead of thinking about that, we came here to win this tournament.”
In the face of increasing pressure for reform, the Department of Military Human Affairs is currently conducting a review of the system, including eligibility criteria and general service requirements.
This study is expected to be completed by the middle of next month.
Professor at Hanyang University, Kim Seung Shin, believes that this controversy reflects the extent of change that South Korea has witnessed since the adoption of this system more than half a century ago.
He said, “The exemption system that was established in 1973 was the product of an era when achievements achieved in international sports competitions were closely linked to national prestige.”
But he added that this case shows how times have changed, as “after more than fifty years, South Korea faces a decline in the number of military recruits, an increasing treatment of sports as a commodity, and growing popular demands for equality and fairness.”
