Psy Called Up for Military Again
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Korean popular singer ``Psy’’ will be drafted into the military as active duty. The Military Manpower Administration (MMA) said Tuesday Park Jae-sang, 30, better known as Psy, will begin his military service from August at the earliest and undergo a five-week basic miltiary training program at an Army boot camp.
Park has been found to have been neglecting his duties, working instead at a high-tech company in Seoul where employees are exempt from the country’s mandatory military service.
Korea imposes all able-bodied men to serve in the military for at least two years, but technology researchers and professional skilled workers with special expertise are exempt from this rule, fulfilling alternate obligations in companies that serve vital national interests.
Park was hired to develop computer software at an information technology firm, but prosecutors accused Park of evading the draft after it was discovered that his uncle had bribed the head of the software company to help the non-qualified singer get a job there.
It was also revealed that he had been transferred to an easier post during his service from 2003 to 2005 due to his poor performance at his technical duties.
Prosecutors also went so far as to say that Park neglected work at the office, choosing instead to hold concerts and appear on local television networks during the employment period.
Although Park will have to serve in the military for about 20 months, the specific period of his military service could be changed depending on his court appeal. Park’s lawyer, Choi Jung-hwan, plans to deliver significant evidence next week that could prove beneficial to his case.
Meanwhile, Park said that he will fully cooperate with the prosecution’s interrogation from here on in and will not pursue any more legal action against the court’s judgment.