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A South Korean man was given a one-year suspended prison sentence for intentionally gaining weight to avoid training camps and other arduous activities of military service, a Seoul court told AFP on Tuesday .
All South Korean men under the age of 30 must complete about two years of military service, primarily because the country remains technically at war with nuclear-armed North Korea. They must serve in the army but people with health problems may be given other tasks, particularly administrative ones.
A 26-year-old man was sentenced earlier this month to a year in prison for violating the military service law after deliberately overeating to gain weight and be classified as unfit for active duty.
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Getting fat to escape military service
After learning that a body mass index (BMI) above 35 could exempt him from regular military duty, he began trying to gain weight by following a special diet designed by an acquaintance.
The plan involved doubling his food intake and drinking significant amounts of water before medical evaluations.
In 2017, this man was 169 centimeters tall and weighed 83 kg. In 2022, “he weighed 105 kilos, and in 2023, he weighed 102 kilos”, the Seoul Eastern District Court told AFP.
The acquaintance who encouraged him was also found guilty of complicity in violation of the law and received a six-month suspended prison sentence.
The court noted that “the accused admitted his wrongdoing and expressed his willingness to sincerely fulfill his military duty.” The Military Personnel Administration maintains a public list of escapees, displaying their names, ages, registered addresses, and reasons for escape.
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Precedents
In 2023, 355 people illegally escaped compulsory military service, the highest number since this public list appeared in 2015.
Famous people have been caught faking illness to avoid or be exempted from military service altogether, including a high-profile celebrity accused of pulling teeth.
Last year, Ravi, rapper of the K-pop group VIXX, received a suspended sentence after falsifying medical documents stating that he suffered from epilepsy. He apologized on social media, saying he made a “stupid decision” then.
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