Evasion After Evasion

Radical Steps Needed to Prevent Draft Dodging

It is deplorable that a large-scale draft-dodging scandal erupts every year. The government and the military authorities have long been criticized for failing to crack down on the evasion of compulsory military service by young entertainers, athletes and others. The public has come to believe that the authorities have no will to combat the draft dodging schemes.

The prosecution said Sunday that it indicted 92 people, including professional football players on charges of avoiding military service. What's surprising is that those indicted included 15 who are either active or former players in the Korean professional football league (K-1). In addition, 50 of them play in the minor K-2 or K-3 leagues. The rest are university football players or ordinary citizens.

Such military service evasion cannot take place without the collaboration of medical professionals and military officials in charge of screening eligible conscripts. The prosecution also brought criminal charges against an orthopedist, identified by his surname Yoon, for aiding draft dodging. Yoon is suspected of having performed operations on all the 92 draft-dodging suspects so that they could be classified as unfit for military service.

It is disturbing that the suspects intentionally deformed their shoulder joints but only to the extent that the symptoms were not serious enough to prevent them from continuing their football career. The football players underwent arthroscopies from Yoon who issued medical certificates to be used for military service exemption. He reportedly denied all the charges, claiming that he had no knowledge about the suspects' intention of draft dodging.

The prosecution also indicted three brokers for arranging military service evasion through an Internet site. The three are suspected of taking 3-5 million won from 16 clients for giving advice on how to evade the mandatory service. The latest case came after Korea's pop singer Psy, 30, and several other entertainers were found to have evaded military service last year. In October 2004, police arrested 43 entertainers and professional baseball players for illegally evading military conscription.

Every time when such draft dodging cases erupt, the Military Manpower Administration announces a series of measures to crack down on the crime. But to the dismay of the public, military service evasion shows little sign of disappearing. We call on the administration to take revolutionary steps to prevent any recurrence. Entertainers and athletes are also urged to give up their selfish attempt to go without military service.