Tag: mandatory service

I guess besides people becoming Jehovah’s Witnesses they can now eat their way out of their mandatory military service:

A man accused of putting on weight by eating fried chicken to avoid mandatory military service was acquitted of breaking the law on conscription, Incheon District Court said Sunday.

The 22-year-old college student reportedly underwent a physical examination for military service in August 2016. The test showed that the man, who weighed 106 kilograms and was 169.6 centimeters tall at the time, had Body Mass Index of 36.8. 

People with BMI of 33 and higher can be exempted from full-time military service and work as a public service worker. 

The prosecutors indicted the man for violating the military service law, arguing that he deliberately gained weight by eating fried chicken and drinking alcohol ahead of the physical exam to avoid the conscription. They also accused the man of stooping when getting his height measured so as to increase his BMI. 

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

This is good news for ROK Army conscripts:

Enlisted soldiers will be allowed to stay off base for about four hours after hours during weekdays starting in February as part of efforts to protect the rights of conscripts. 
The Defense Ministry on Thursday announced a set of new guidelines that will allow soldiers to leave their base from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. up to twice a month. They can meet family and friends, pursue their studies or enjoy themselves as long as their fitness for combat is not affected.
Currently conscripts are confined to the district where their barracks is for fear that they will not make it back in time in an emergency. But in future they can travel as far as a two-hour drive from their base. 
Some small businesses near bases were against the plan because they were afraid of losing customers, and some pundits warned the plans could affect discipline. But a ministry spokesman said, “We’re going to rely on common sense when we let soldiers spend time off base.”

Chosun Ilbo

So what do people think of France’s new mandatory service law?:

The French government has introduced a plan to bring back national service for all 16-year-olds.

It was an idea put forward by Emmanuel Macron in his presidential campaign, to promote a sense of civic duty and national unity among French youth.

But some remain unconvinced of the benefits.

The new national service will cover all 16-year-olds, girls as well as boys, and will be divided into two distinct phases.

National service in two parts

The first phase is a mandatory one-month placement with a focus on civic culture, which the government says will “enable young people to create new relationships and develop their role in society”.

Voluntary teaching and working with charities are among the options being looked at, alongside traditional military preparation with the police, fire service or army.

The second phase is a voluntary placement of at least three months and up to a year, in which young people will be encouraged to serve “in an area linked to defence and security” – but again, they could opt to carry out volunteer work linked to heritage, the environment or social care.  [BBC]

You can read more at the link, but it seems this more like a long summer camp than national service.  I guess it is better than nothing.  It will be interesting to see how this turns out because I assume there will be legal challenges to it.

It looks like there is going to be a surge of Jehovah’s Witnesses in South Korea after this court ruling:

South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday that moral scruples and religious beliefs are valid reasons to refuse compulsory military service, a landmark change in the court’s decades-long stance on conscientious objection and one that’s expected to impact the fate of over 900 men.

Thursday’s verdict concerned only one defendant, a 34-year-old Jehovah’s Witness named Oh Seung-heon. In a nine to four vote, the full bench ordered an appellate court to retry his case, effectively clearing him of charges that he violated the Military Service Act.  (…….)

Conscientious objection has long been a subject of public debate in South Korea.

More than 19,000 conscientious objectors were criminally punished under South Korean law since the 1950s, mostly serving 18 months in jail. A majority of those objectors were Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian sect that bases its refusal to serve in the military on Isaiah 2:4, a part of which reads, “Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”

South Korea’s Supreme Court said Thursday that it “violates the practice of tolerance towards minorities, a spirit of free democracy, to uniformly force the implementation of mandatory military service and criminally charge those who fail to fulfill.” In that sense, the court continued, conscientious objection falls into the category of a “valid reason” not to comply with the military’s call for enlistment.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but the Jehovah’s Witness defendant did say he is willing to do mandatory civilian service.  I wonder if there is a religious reason not to be part of the riot police?

Here's an idea. Either make the SKorean military an all-volunteer force or keep the current system but don't exempt anyone. That was easy. https://t.co/1m9knKW58n

— John Lee (The Korean Foreigner) (@koreanforeigner) September 4, 2018

I am sure it was sweet to beat Japan in the Asian Cup Finals, but the fact they don’t have to do their mandatory military service is probably the most satisfying part of this win for the players:

South Korea defeated Japan 2-1 to defend the men’s football title at the Asian Games in Indonesia.

In the final match at Pakansari Stadium in Cibinong on Saturday, the men’s football team finished the 90-minute main game in a scoreless draw.

During extra time, Lee Seung-woo scored the first goal and Hwang Hee-chan added another minutes later.

South Korea successfully defended its Asiad title following their victory at Incheon 2014 and came to hold the most Asiad titles in men’s football with five.

The victory also gave the 20 Taegeuk Warriors, including captain Son Heung-min, exemption from mandatory military service that usually takes about two years.  [KBS World Radio]

A gold medal at the Asian Games will be extra memorable if the South Korean soccer team wins because they can avoid mandatory military service:

South Korea’s soccer team is just 90 minutes away from gold at the 2018 Asian Games and that all-important military exemption thanks to a 3-1 win over Vietnam in the semifinal Wednesday.

On Saturday, Son Heung-min and his colleagues will meet either Japan or the United Arab Emirates in the final in Cibinong, south of Jakarta. If the young Taegeuk Warriors win that then the 20-man roster will not have to perform 21 months of military service.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Ryeowook, a member of K-pop boy group Super Junior, gets his certificate of work experience during military service as he is discharged from the Army at a base in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province, on July 10, 2018, after completing his mandatory draft. (Yonhap)

It will be interesting to see if alternative service fixes this currently problem of jailing people for not doing their mandatory service for largely religious reasons:

The Constitutional Court on Thursday ordered the revision of the conscription law to allow for alternative service for conscientious objectors by the end of next year, while upholding the criminalization of those who refuse to serve in the military, largely for religious reasons.

The nine-member panel ruled a clause in the Military Service Act, which stipulates that such objectors face up to three years in prison, to be constitutional. The court did so in all its three previous rulings, most recently in 2011.

The decision was made by four votes to four, with one refusing to judge for procedural reasons. It required at least six votes to overturn the past rulings.

“The punishment clause is meant to strike a balance between securing military service resources and the burden of military service. Its legislative purpose is just, and enforcing the military service obligation with criminal punishment is a suitable means to achieve the legislative purpose,” the court said.

The court, however, ruled that another clause in the same law that does not recognize alternative service for conscription is unconformable to the highest law. It ordered the National Assembly to amend the law by the end of 2019. Otherwise, the clause will be scrapped on Jan. 1, 2020.

The decision was made by six to three.

The punishment of objectors without the provision of alternative options is an infringement of freedom of conscience and the principle banning excessive punishment, the court said.  [Yonhap]