Prospective soldiers wearing masks have their blood taken during a medical checkup at the Seoul office of the Military Manpower Administration on Feb. 3, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — The issue of corruption in military conscription has resurfaced in the public eye following the arrest of individuals who falsely claimed to be suffering from epilepsy in order to evade their mandatory military service.
A variety of methods have been used to avoid mandatory military service, in addition to the traditional methods of excessively gaining or losing weight or pretending to have mental illnesses.
An individual received a congenital malformation diagnosis in 2020 after saying that his wrist was hurt during arm wrestling and pretending to have wrist and finger catalepsy.
A court ruled against him, saying that he received an exemption from military service by intentionally deceiving a doctor.
Another individual induced a skin rash by intentionally scratching his skin with his nails and stopping the intake of medicine in 2021.
He was transferred to the supplementary service but was indicted for violation of the Military Service Act.
In 2018, another man stopped taking anti-hypertensive drugs and intentionally smoked and slept less to transfer to the supplementary service for hypertension.
During the day of the physical examination for conscription, he intentionally raised his blood pressure by exercising at a restroom during lunchtime. Finally, he received a suspended prison sentence from a court.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
