SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — The government will disregard education levels in determining whether one is fit for active military service, the military recruitment agency said Wednesday. Under the current law, the government is required to recruit men with at least high school diplomas for active military service. Those with lower levels of education [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — An appeals court has ruled in favor of a non-religious conscientious objector who was indicted for dodging the draft. The Uijeongbu District Court said Monday that it overturned a lower court ruling in the case of a man who was indicted for violation of the nation’s military service law. [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — The Ministry of Justice said Wednesday it will begin a program that allows replacing mandatory military service for other public services due to religious or personal beliefs. Under the program, 64 “conscientious objectors” will begin their 36 months of alternative service Monday at three correctional facilities, including one in [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Chen, a member of K-pop boy band EXO, will join the military later this month to fulfill his mandatory military service, his agency said Friday. The 28-year-old, whose legal name is Kim Jong-dae, is set to enlist on Oct. 26, according to SM Entertainment. The agency did not elaborate [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Almost 60 percent of South Koreans are in support of allowing distinguished pop culture artists to postpone their mandatory military service, a poll showed Thursday. According to the poll conducted on 500 people aged 18 or above by Realmeter, 58.8 percent of the respondents said they favor the government [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — The government is working on a plan to allow pop culture celebrities credited for contributing to improving the country’s image to postpone their mandatory military service, the military recruitment agency said Tuesday. The plan came amid talk of whether K-pop boy band BTS members should be given such favors [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — A prominent ruling party lawmaker said Tuesday members of K-pop superstar BTS should be offered preferential treatment in terms of their mandatory military duties. “Why is it OK for Son Heung-min but not for BTS?,” Rep. Noh Woong-rae of the ruling Democratic Party said in a radio interview with [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — A Jehovah’s Witness who objected military service based on his religious faith has been convicted for violation of the Military Service Act. The grounds for the guilty verdict was that he previously enjoyed playing online shooting games, killing other gamers without feeling any pangs of conscience. For the man [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — As BTS conquered the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week with “Dynamite,” the achievement has also rekindled a debate on whether global K-pop stars should be offered preferential treatment in terms of military duties so as to avoid a hiatus during the height of their careers. On Tuesday, BTS [...]
CHANGWON, Aug. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Actor Park Bo-gum started his mandatory military duty Monday. Dressed in black, Park entered the Navy Education and Training Command in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, at 2 p.m. As his agency Blossom Entertainment has promised no farewell event at the training camp due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 26-year-old [...]