Kim Min-seok: “Military service exemptions need a major overhaul ... party to review”

[The Financial News] Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on the 7th that the scope and framework of the military service exemption system need to be overhauled, amid renewed debate over the exemptions following events such as the Asian Games.
Appearing that day on the Democratic Party of Korea’s YouTube program “Minti07,” Kim discussed the military service exemption system, saying, “In the very distant past, it began as a kind of benefit associated with promoting national prestige. But times have changed, and so has the country’s standing. What it means to promote national prestige, and whether that should be the goal, have also changed.”
He added that lawmakers on the relevant standing committees within the party had already introduced a range of bills, “from proposals to abolish military service exemptions altogether to proposals to limit them for professionals or by sport.” He explained, “Since we thought it would be better to make adjustments within a broad framework, we reached a tentative agreement yesterday to leave the review to the relevant committee members.”
Within the Democratic Party of Korea, various options have been raised, from abolishing military service exemptions to scaling them back gradually. Ahn Gyu-back, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker who served as the first minister of national defense under the Lee Jae-myung administration, said on the 5th, “Abolishing the military service exemption system is something that should already have been done,” stating that the system should be abolished across both the arts and sports.
Kim Byung-joo, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker and the ruling party’s ranking member on the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, proposed gradually narrowing the eligible groups and criteria for military service exemptions. Kim said, “At a time when every military manpower resource is precious, we cannot maintain a system that varies the burden of military service solely based on achievements in specific fields. A gradual reform that progressively narrows eligibility and the criteria is a realistic solution.” Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jeong Il-young also said, “An Asian Games gold medal is a remarkable achievement and deserves applause, but celebrating a gold medal and granting a military service exemption are separate issues. As times have changed, the criteria should change too.”

[email protected] Song Ji-won Reporter