SEOUL, Apr. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Two out of three South Korean men in their twenties consider male-only mandatory military service to be a form of gender discrimination. The Korean Women’s Development Institute (KWDI) conducted a survey last year on 3,000 men between 19 and 59 years of age, with 72.2 percent of the respondents [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s military recruitment agency has accused eight men of having dodged or attempted to evade military service by feigning hearing impairment, its investigators said Tuesday. The Military Manpower Administration (MMA) said that six of the men falsely registered as hearing-impaired after intentionally exposing themselves to the high-pitched sounds [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Seungri of South Korean boy band BIGBANG will join the army late this month to carry out his mandatory military service, his agency said Friday. “Seungri will enlist in the army on March 25,” YG Entertainment said. The 29-year-old singer is currently subject to a police probe into allegations [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Actor Lee Jong-suk will be temporarily away from his fans from next month to complete his mandatory military duty as a public service worker, his management agency said Tuesday. “Lee will begin his alternative military service as a public service worker on March 8,” A-Man Project said in a [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Commemorating the 100th year of the March 1st Independence Movement as well as the establishment of the provisional government of the Republic of Korea, military service members will be replacing their camouflage patches of the South Korean national flag with the original ones. On Monday, the Republic of Korea [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Onew, the lead vocalist and eldest member of K-pop boy band SHINee, joined the armed forces on Monday to fulfill his mandatory military service, taking a hiatus from his long K-pop career. “I come to a temporary break,” Onew, whose real name is Lee Jin-ki, said in a hand-written [...]
DAEGU, Dec. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — A 25-year old South Korean who got a tattoo to avoid military service was sentenced to one year in prison with two years of probation, and was ordered to carry out 160 hours of community service work. The accused has been getting tattoos since 2006 and continued to do [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that religious and conscientious beliefs are to be considered valid reasons for refusing the military service mandate, overturning its decision from 14 years ago. In a 9-4 vote, the full bench led by Chief Justice Kim Meong-su delivered the decision and ordered an appellate [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — A task force composed of officials from the Military Manpower Administration and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism with the goal of improving the process of military service exemptions for artists and athletes was launched on October 1. Controversy surrounding the current system was sparked during the 2018 [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – When the Korean national team won the finals in men’s soccer and men’s baseball at the Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games, some of the players had one more reason to rejoice than just the gold medal – an exemption from military service. The legitimacy of the prize, which provides [...]