Controversy over special military service for Asian Games soccer players… Politicians say, “We need to fix the system”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporters Kim Jeong-jin, Noh Seon-woong, Park Jae-ha, and Choi Joo-seong = As controversies arose over the words and actions of some players on the national soccer team who won gold medals at the 2026 Aichi/Nagoya Asian Games regarding special military service, there are a series of calls in the political world to revise the military service special treatment system in the arts and sports fields.

As voices from both the ruling and opposition parties agree on the need for improvements ranging from redesigning special military service standards to abolishing the system, attention is focused on whether discussions on system reform at the National Assembly level will begin in earnest.

Rep. Ahn Gyu-baek of the Democratic Party of Korea, who served as the first Minister of National Defense under the Lee Jae-myung administration, said in a phone call with Yonhap News on the 5th, "The abolition of the military service special system should have already been done."

Rep. Ahn also advocated for the abolition of the military service exemption system in 2020 while serving as a member of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly.

He emphasized, “When we didn’t even know where Korea was, we gave such benefits (exemption from military service) to promote national prestige, but now we need to provide economic compensation,” and added, “As the number of military personnel has reached a cliff, we need to eliminate the special system, including in the arts and sports fields.”

As it has been 53 years since it was introduced, some argue that the standards of the system need to be redesigned to suit the changing times.

Rep. Kim Byeong-ju of the Democratic Party, who serves as a special adviser to the president for defense policy, wrote on Facebook, “The military service special treatment from 53 years ago must now be reorganized.”

Rep. Kim said, “What must take priority more than anything else is the rapid decrease in military service resources,” and argued, “In an era where one person’s military service resources are precious, we cannot maintain a system that varies the burden of military service based on performance in a specific field.”

He went on to say, "BTS, which contributed greatly to the national interest, also fulfilled its national defense obligations," and suggested, "A realistic solution is a gradual reorganization that gradually reduces the targets and standards (special military service exceptions)."

He emphasized, “(Military service) should no longer be a reward given based on medals or performance.”

Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Il-young also said on Facebook, "A gold medal in the Asian Games is a great achievement and deserves applause, but congratulations on the gold medal and special military service exemption are different issues. As times have changed, standards must also change."

A member of the Democratic Party pointed out, “The special military service system is so old that there are many things that do not fit the current public sentiment,” and “As the Asian Games are not as big as they used to be, it is time to fix them.”

The People Power Party also raised the need for system reform.

Chief Spokesperson Park Seong-hoon said in a commentary, "This controversy should not be dismissed as a slip of the tongue by a few players," and "We must examine whether the current arts and sports personnel system is in line with the times and the common sense of the people."

He then suggested, “If we redesign the standards and maintain the system by taking into account the level of competition for each event and international status, we must also strengthen corresponding service and public responsibility.”

Rep. Yoo Yong-won, a member of the National Defense Committee, also appeared on BBS radio and said, "Shouldn't we now move toward reducing (special military service) or abolishing it?" and added, "A consensus was formed to some extent during the last National Assembly audit that the National Defense Committee should also properly resolve this issue."

Special military service provisions in the arts and sports fields were introduced during the Yushin regime in 1973.

The intention was to encourage the promotion of national prestige through achievements in international competitions, but as troop resources decreased due to low birth rates and social demands for fairness in military service grew, controversies surrounding the effectiveness of the system were repeated.

With the Asian Games as an opportunity, the idea of ​​reform is spreading among individual lawmakers in the ruling and opposition parties, and the key question appears to be whether the discussions that have been raised sporadically will lead to actual law revision.

An official from the Democratic Party's floor leadership said, "As it is expected that related criticisms will continue to appear in the media, we will likely devise countermeasures."