South Korea court docket convicts man for dodging army draft by gaining weight | Army Information

The person and his pal devised a plan for him to be placed on extreme weight so as to trick the conscription system.

A court docket in South Korea has sentenced a younger man to a suspended jail period for intentionally placing on extreme weight to dodge obligatory army service.

The Seoul Jap District Court docket mentioned on Tuesday that the unnamed man has been sentenced to 1 yr in jail, suspended for 2 years, for violating the Army Service Act.

An acquaintance of the person, who had helped him devise a routine to place on greater than 20kg (44 kilos), obtained a six-month jail period suspended for one year, for aiding and abetting the offence.

Native media reported the boys had been associates, each aged 26, however, the court docket didn’t establish them by identity.

All able-bodied males are legally certain to serve in the army for 18-21 months in South Korea, the place tensions have escalated with its neighbour to the north and the 2 international locations stay technically in the struggle.

People with well-being points can perform their obligatory service within the type of group service at non-military amenities, together with at welfare centres. Some could also be exempted if discovered eligible.

Based on the court docket, a bodily examination in 2017 had discovered the person to weigh 83kg (183 kilos) at 169cm (5 ft 6 inches), which means he would qualify as an active-duty soldier.

However he doubled his daily meal consumption, consumed high-calorie meals, stopped his part-time job as a parcel supply employee, and drank massive quantities of water earlier than assessments to intentionally improve his weight, the court docket mentioned.

In three bodily exams from 2022 to 2023, the person weighed 102-105kg (225-231 kilos), which made him a match for social service.

The court docket added that the person had promised to fulfil his army obligation faithfully and that each of the defendants and prosecutors didn’t attract the ruling.

Exemptions from army service to dodging conscription are a delicate home problem in the face of a more and more belligerent North Korea, and as South Korea rethinks its place in the struggle in Ukraine.

Gaining or shedding weight, or manoeuvring on different well-being points, have turned out to be commonplace strategies to evade obligatory army service. Okay-pop stars in BTS went on hiatus in 2022 to carry out army service.

The Army Manpower Administration maintains a public record of evaders, displaying their names, ages, registered addresses, and causes for avoidance.

In 2023, 355 folks evaded obligatory army service illegally, the very best for the reason that public itemizing started in 2015.