South Korea's Military Manpower Administration may present guidelines for reforming the country's military service exemption system during this year's parliamentary audit of government agencies, a lawmaker said, as controversy grows over remarks by members of the men's soccer team that won gold at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Rep. Sung Il-jong of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, said on a radio program on the 6th that the committee had discussed revising the exemption system for years. "The Military Manpower Administration has also studied improvement measures extensively, and the results should be ready around now," Sung said. "I expect the commissioner to present guidelines at this audit."
"After some players won gold at the Asian Games, they mishandled the issue of military service exemptions, and public anger is considerable," Sung said. "Reflecting public opinion, these provisions need to be adjusted to fit an era of demographic decline."
Sung added that the system had been tenable when the pool of conscripts was large. "In the past there were enough people available for service, so exempting them this way was acceptable. But the pool will shrink going forward," he said. "I think the whole thing needs to be reviewed."
Rep. Kim Byung-joo of the Democratic Party, the ruling party's committee liaison on the defense committee, wrote on social media on the 5th that the 53-year-old exemption system now needed to be overhauled. "It can no longer be a reward handed out according to medals or results," Kim said. "I will lead the discussion responsibly to build a fair military service system that young people can accept."
Rep. Min Hong-chul of the Democratic Party, also on the defense committee, said it was time to abolish or sharply scale back the exemption system. "The fairness of the current criteria, which apply to the Olympics, the Asian Games and various international competitions, is ambiguous," Min said.
Rep. Jung Yeon-wook of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, also addressed the controversy on social media. "The responsibility for fixing the system lies with politics. I will take this seriously," Jung said. Referring to a landmine explosion on the western front, Jung added that the public had ample reason to suspect an attitude that treated military service lightly.
