Prosecution Service Seeks Two-Year Prison Term for Former Startup CEO Who Earned Hundreds of Millions of Won in Korea While Evading Military Service

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[Financial News] The Prosecution Service has sought a prison sentence for a former CEO of a startup who is suspected of evading mandatory military service by abusing the conscription deferment system while holding permanent residency overseas.
At a final hearing on charges of violating the Military Service Act held on the 16th before the single-judge panel of Criminal Division 8 of the Seoul Southern District Court, presided over by Judge Song Han-do of the Seoul Southern District Court, the Prosecution Service asked the court to sentence Ha (40) to two years in prison.
At the hearing, the prosecution argued that although Ha, who holds permanent residency in the Philippines, stayed in Korea for a certain period and received hundreds of millions of won from the company where he served as co-CEO through family accounts, he responded to a military service status survey to the effect that he had ‘no income’ and thereby evaded his military duty.
Under current law, permanent residents may defer their military service until the age of 37, but they are prohibited from staying in Korea for six months or more in any given year or engaging in profit-making activities.
At the hearing, while Ha admitted all the charges, he pleaded with the court to take into account that he is, in substance, an immigrant. His side argued, “The defendant has lived abroad with his entire family since he was in elementary school, and his family currently resides in Malaysia,” adding, “His business activities were conducted overseas, and only the funds were received through a Korean corporation.”
In his final statement, Ha said, “I immigrated to the Philippines at the age of 10, and in the struggle to survive in a foreign land, I failed to properly attend to my duty of military service,” adding, “I truly had no intention of evading military service.”
The first-instance verdict for Ha is scheduled to be handed down on the 4th of next month.
psh@fnnews.com Park Seong-hyun Reporter