Ex-Lawmaker Calls for Ending Military Service Benefits for Asian Games Gold

South Korea's baseball team won its fifth consecutive gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, prompting calls to abolish the military service benefits granted to Asian Games gold medalists.

Ha Tae-keung, president of the Korea Insurance Training Institute and a former lawmaker of the People Power Party, wrote on social media on the 28th that "Asian Games baseball is not a fair competition" and that "all military benefits for Asian Games gold medals should be eliminated."

Ha said that while serving on the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, he had worked to scale back military benefits for athletes and artists. "Among them, my position was that the military privilege system for Asian Games gold medals should be abolished," he said.

He singled out baseball in particular. "Baseball is a textbook case of unfair competition," he said. "Only we field a professional team while other countries send amateur teams." He added that "our professional players compete in the Asian Games because of the military exemption, but other countries have no such benefit, so they do not go out of their way to participate while leaving their professional leagues empty."

South Korea again assembled its national team from KBO League players for this tournament. The team lost 0-5 to Japan in the super round on the 25th but defeated Japan 3-1 in the final on the 27th, securing its fifth straight gold medal since the 2010 Guangzhou Games.

Since the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, South Korea has applied its own age restriction, limiting 21 of the 24 final roster spots to players aged 25 or younger, excluding three wild-card selections. Of the 24 players on this year's team, 16 had not yet completed their military service.

Ha argued that South Korea's military benefit distorts the competitive landscape of Asian Games baseball. "In fact, it is South Korea's military exemption system that muddies the waters of Asian Games baseball," he said. "South Korea is now a world-class nation, and it is ridiculous for such a country to grant military benefits for finishing first in Asia." He stressed that "world number one might be another matter, but the military privilege system for Asian Games gold medals should be abolished."

Characterizing the Japanese team simply as an "amateur team," however, requires some explanation. Japan built its roster for this tournament around corporate league players rather than Nippon Professional Baseball players. These corporate league players are salaried employees of companies such as Toyota Motor, ENEOS and Nippon Life, training and competing with company baseball clubs while holding jobs.

Many of them were elite players in college and high school, and some go on to join Nippon Professional Baseball. While they are not technically professional league players, they differ from recreational-level amateurs. After South Korea's 0-5 loss to Japan, some noted that it is difficult to explain the gap between the two teams through a simple professional-versus-amateur framework.

Taiwan, too, is not a country that builds its national team without regard to military service, contrary to Ha's argument. Taiwan maintains conscription, and the mandatory service period for men was extended from four months to one year starting in 2024. As a result, Asian Games baseball is also seen as an important opportunity for Taiwanese players to earn military benefits.

Taiwan fielded a strong squad at this tournament as well. The roster included Lin Yu-min, who plays in the Arizona Diamondbacks' minor league system, Wang Yen-cheng of the KBO League's Hanwha Eagles, and Yang Po-hsiang and Hsu Hsiang-sheng, who play in Nippon Professional Baseball.

Ha has made the same argument before. In 2018, as a lawmaker for the Bareunmirae Party, he called for abolishing the military service benefits tied to Asian Games gold medals during the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, saying that "first place in Asia is a level we have already reached." In 2022, he again called for scrapping the special military service program, pointing to inequities in the program for art and sports personnel.