Ex-lawmaker calls for end to military exemptions for sports, arts standouts
Summary
Former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min has called for abolishing military exemptions for outstanding athletes and artists, saying military service should not be used as an incentive for achievements. He made the remarks in a Facebook post on Sunday amid controversy over comments by members of Korea’s men’s football team about military benefits. Yoo said the system itself is outdated and should be removed altogether.
Key Facts
- Yoo said the debate should not be reduced to criticism of individual players and is fundamentally about principles and the military exemption system.
- He argued that military exemptions for sports and the arts have become a source of repeated fairness disputes over where the exemption line should be drawn.
- Yoo said outstanding athletes and artists can be rewarded in other ways and that military service itself is difficult to justify as a reward.
Korean Sports & Olympic Committee President Yoo Seung-min presents gold medals to Korean players at the men's footbal medal ceremony of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Toyota Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, Saturday. Yonhap
Former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min has called for the abolition of the military exemption system granted to outstanding national athletes, arguing that military service should not be used as an incentive for achievements in sports or the arts.
His remarks came amid controversy over comments made by members of Korea's men's football team, who recently won their fourth consecutive Asian Games title, regarding the military benefits they received. Yoo went further, calling for the abolition of all military exemption criteria for athletes and artists.
Former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min / Korea Times file
Yoo made the remarks in a Facebook post on Sunday, saying, "The flippant remarks and behavior of football and baseball players who won gold medals at the Asian Games over military exemption have provoked resentment among many people."
He stressed, however, that the issue should not be reduced to criticism of individual players. "Basically, this is a matter of principles and a matter of the system concerning military exemptions," Yoo said. "It would be right to abolish all military exemption criteria in sports and the arts altogether."
"Looking solely at the effect of enhancing national prestige, there are few young people who have done as much as BTS," he said. "Is it really fair that BTS has to serve in the military while Asian Games gold medalists are exempt?"
He argued that "the idea of promoting sports and the arts through military exemption as an incentive is itself outdated" and that it amounts to the state itself recognizing the nation's sacred duty of military service as something to be avoided.
Yoo also pointed to the continuing controversy over fairness in determining who qualifies for military exemptions. "Even with the same gold medal, controversy over fairness will not disappear regardless of where the line is drawn — whether exemptions should apply to the Olympics, the World Cup or the Asian Games, why silver and bronze medalists should not qualify when gold medalists do, or how far exemptions should extend to the numerous domestic and international competitions in the arts," he said.
"The development of sports and the arts can be supported in many other ways," he said. "Outstanding athletes and artists may receive appropriate rewards for their achievements, but it is difficult to justify using military service itself as a form of reward."
"Fairness and equality in military service are of utmost importance in Korea, where a universal conscription system is in place," Yoo said. "Rather than continuing to adjust the line between who qualifies for military benefits and who does not, we should now eliminate the line itself."
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.
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