SEOUL, May 16 (Korea Bizwire) – Under South Korean constitutional law, able-bodied young men must serve in the military as part of the country’s national defense strategy. On May 16, however, a man was acquitted by Judge Lee Seung-hoon at the Suwon District Court for objecting to military service. The man, who objected to serving in [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Actor Kim Soo-hyun starts his mandatory military duty Monday, his agency has said. Keyeast Co. said Kim, 29, will enter a military training camp in Gyeonggi Province during the day and there will be no event for fans, as the actor didn’t want to make a fuss about starting [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Two South Korean boy band members will begin their mandatory military service in February, their agencies said Tuesday. Junsu of the K-pop trio JYJ, also known as Kim Jun-su on the musical scene, and T.O.P of BIGBANG will start their two-year service at police departments in February. Both 29 [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s ruling Saenuri Party said Monday around 3,400 men are giving up their citizenship annually to evade the mandatory military duty, adding the government should take steps to restrict their economic activities in the country. Currently, all able-bodied South Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – Military service is no voluntary option for South Korean men. The country, which is still technically at war with its northern neighbor, currently practices conscription, and legislation mandates that all men between 18 and 35 years of age complete a period of military service. As of 2016, those enrolled [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – “I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for death,” said American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay in her poem ‘Conscientious Objector’. South Korean law currently mandates that all men between 18 and 25 years of age complete a period of military service. As of 2016, [...]
SEOUL, May 17 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will phase out the military’s special rule that exempts natural science and engineering students from the compulsory military service in a move that takes into account the country’s dwindling population, the defense ministry said Tuesday. All able-bodied South Korean men are required to finish a two-year military [...]
SEOUL, April 19 (Korea Bizwire) – For many conscripted soldiers in the country, the lack of sleep is the most inconvenient aspect of their military service, a local poll showed Tuesday. The enlisted soldiers also cited loneliness and poor living conditions as other inconveniences of their mandatory military service that lasts nearly two years. All [...]
SEOUL, May 14 (Korea Bizwire) – Conscientious objection to military service is prohibited in Korea by law. In the past, several lower courts acquitted objectors but the Supreme Court of Korea has not recognized objections and usually sentenced objectors to one and half years of imprisonment. Even the Constitutional Court has upheld the Supreme Court [...]