10 Caught Dodging Draft by Faking Blood pressure
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Many youngsters rely on ingenious methods to dodge mandatory military services here. In this case they paid up to 2 million won each ($2,000) to a broker to learn how to raise their blood pressure to flunk the conscription physical test, court officials said.
The secret methods they learnt from the broker for high blood pressure involved basically doing bad things for their body. They didn't sleep several days before D-day, gulped coffee and smoked heavily.
The Seoul Central District Court Wednesday sentenced the 10 draft dodgers to six months in prison with their terms suspended for two years.
``The accused stayed up several nights and chain-smoked to elevate blood pressure. In addition, to push up the pressure at the moment of the physical checkup, they intentionally strained their abdomens or other parts of their bodies,'' the court said.
According to the court, they learned about these ``skills'' from an individual identified as Jung, who is now on trial. They paid a total of 14.3 million won to Jung between 2005 and 2007.
``The suspended jail term is because they are still young and promised to join in the army after their physical condition is re-examined,'' the court said.