[Gu Bon-young Column] Immature Words and Actions Fuel Debate Over the Fate of Military Service Exemptions

Fifteen days have passed since the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya came to a close. Yet controversy over whether to retain or abolish the military service exemption system, sparked by inappropriate remarks and behavior from some gold medalists, has not died down. Recently, a bill was even proposed to amend the Military Service Act to exclude Asian Games first-place finishers from eligibility for exemptions. The issue also came under full scrutiny during this year’s parliamentary audit of state affairs.
Sports are often called unscripted dramas, because athletes’ sweat and tears produce unpredictable and moving moments. But this time, the baseball team, made up of professionals, lost once to Japan’s all-amateur corporate-league team, then barely won the final after a hard-fought game. Even so, captain No Si-hwan said, “We won the gold medal anyway, didn’t we?” Perhaps as a result, what lingered in the eyes of the public watching was not the emotion but only some players’ immature attitudes.
The national soccer team went a step further. Holding up his gold medal, captain Lee Gi-hyeok revealed what he really thought, unprompted by any question from reporters: “I’m not going to the military.” Yang Min-hyeok, who plays for Premier League club Tottenham, said, “I played with only one thing in mind: getting exempted from military service,” making headlines in foreign media, including The Guardian. Park Seung-su also came under fire for a photo of himself wearing his military discharge cap askew. They later posted apologies. But that was only after exposing the “uncomfortable truth” that a ticket to avoid military service had been their top priority, ahead of the honor of winning a medal.
As a result, negative public opinion about the military service exemption system grew. It was even stronger among people in their 20s and 30s, who are particularly sensitive to fairness. In the past, there was broad public support for granting military service benefits to people in sports and the arts who enhanced the country’s prestige. But today is different from those days when military manpower was abundant amid low birth rates. In an era of entrenched low growth, a person’s 20s are precious to any young person looking for a job in an increasingly narrow market. All the more so given that BTS, whose contribution to national prestige stands several notches above an Asian Games gold medal, has also completed its mandatory military service.
It is understandable, then, that momentum may have built in political circles to reform the military service exemption system. Senior figures from both the ruling and opposition parties, including Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), and lawmakers Joo Ho-young and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Power Party, have taken the lead. At the Military Manpower Administration’s parliamentary audit on the 12th, lawmakers from both parties likewise called for reform, including raising the bar for international competitions that qualify for exemptions. The system was introduced in 1973. More than 50 years on, the public’s “benchmark” for what counts as enhancing national prestige has risen, so it is only natural for political circles to respond to changing public opinion—regardless of the uproar over this Asian Games.
Even so, I do not think political circles should respond too hastily. The point is to avoid an emotional reaction along the lines of abolishing the military service exemption system outright. Given that South Korea is now a sports powerhouse, an Asian Games gold medal may seem like an underwhelming achievement. But it is hard to deny that the Asian Games exemption system played a key role in nurturing world-class male athletes such as Park Chan-ho and Son Heung-min. Needless to say, it also motivated promising athletes in less popular sports without professional leagues and became a driving force for enhancing the country’s prestige.
To be sure, there are quite a few cases of high-earning professional athletes showing little interest in joining the national team after winning Asian Games gold. They pursue what benefits them, figuring that even a grasshopper has its season. This is one reason some have called for raising the age of enlistment and abolishing military service exemptions. But it would be unreasonable to use behavior limited to sports such as soccer and baseball as grounds for applying that approach across every sport.
We should not burn down the house to get rid of a bedbug. The point is to come up with reasonable reforms rather than resort to the drastic measure of abolishing the military service exemption system entirely in response to some players’ immature words and actions. One persuasive alternative might be a “mileage system” (a points-accumulation system) that grants exemptions only to athletes who have consistently performed well at major international competitions.
I am reminded of the controversy over a remark made early in the tenure of former President Roh Moo-hyun, the first commander-in-chief to have served as an enlisted soldier. He said, “You go into the military and rot away for years.” At the time, people had to serve nearly three years in difficult conditions, so the remark did sound candid. Still, it was inappropriate in that it did not help foster a climate of defending the country—that is, pursuing the common good of the national community.
It would therefore be right to link reform of the military service exemption system to the government’s medium- and long-term defense vision. Active-duty service has been reduced to 18 months, and the population of 20-year-old men is expected to plunge from 2035, falling to around 140,000 in 2040 and 120,000 around 2043, they say. There is a case for narrowing eligibility for military service exemptions on grounds of fairness. But how many more people would enlist as a result? The urgent priority is to foster a culture in which young people are willing to defend their country. We should improve conditions in military barracks, introduce bonus points for military service, and expand recognition for those who have completed their service.
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