“‘0 minutes’ played, yet granted military exemption”: Controversy as 30% of Asian Games gold-winning men’s football team played less than an hour

[Financial News] Seven of the 20 men’s national football team players set to receive military service exemptions for winning gold at the Asian Games played less than an hour in total during the tournament, it has emerged.
According to the Chosun Ilbo on the 19th, an analysis by the office of Song Eon-seok, a People Power Party lawmaker, of playing-time records for the 23 members of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games squad, submitted by the Korea Football Association, found that this was the case. Of the 23 players, 20 will receive military service benefits for winning gold, excluding the three who had already completed their military service.
Goalkeepers Kim Min-seung and Lee Seung-hwan played “0 minutes” in the tournament. Defenders Park Gyeong-seop and Choi Woo-jin each played one minute in one match, while Kang Min-jun played six minutes and Park Seong-hun played seven minutes across two matches.
Park Seung-su, who drew controversy over a “discharge cap” photo taken immediately after the final, played 17 minutes in three matches. Even the seven players’ playing time combined did not exceed an hour.
Under current law, in team sports, all players qualify for military service exemptions if their team wins, regardless of how much each individual played. Players originally had to appear in at least one match to qualify, but the requirement was completely abolished in 2020 after ongoing controversy over the so-called “one-minute appearance” loophole, in which players were brought on as substitutes in the very late stages of a match.
In addition to the military service exemption, the players will also receive “special incentive payments” of 4.5 million won per person, totaling more than 100 million won. This is a lump-sum payment made to Asian Games champions whose cumulative evaluation score falls short of the threshold for pension eligibility.
Rep. Song said, “The military service exemption for Asian Games gold medalists is out of step with the changing times and is also unfair to young people who faithfully fulfill their duty to defend the country. To restore fairness in military service, I will introduce as lead sponsor an amendment to the Military Service Act abolishing the military service exemption system for arts and sports personnel.”


[email protected] Seong Min-seo Reporter