A 26-year-old man was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for intentionally gaining weight to avoid mandatory military service in South Korea.
The accused allegedly doubled his daily food intake in order to be considered obese, and thus be selected for an office position, according to the Korean Herald.
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The Dongbu East District Court in Seoul sentenced him to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for violating the country's Military Service Act.
This stipulates that all South Koreans over the age of 18 must complete compulsory military service of at least 18 months.
The young man allegedly followed a special diet prepared by a friend in order to quickly gain weight and ingested a lot of water before the final physical tests which allegedly distorted his results.
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Although he was deemed fit to fight during initial evaluations, he showed up for the final test weighing 225 pounds (102 kg).
This new data moved him from Class 2, which declared him fit to fight, to Class 4, which would have allowed him to be assigned to an administrative role in a government agency.
According to the Korean Herald, the court justified this sentence which it describes as “lenient” because of the remorse expressed by the accused and his intention to perform his military service.
