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Officials: 127 abused alternative military service
July 27, 2007
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| Add another 29 men, including celebrities and sons of high-ranking officials, to the list of people who didn’t complete their alternative to the mandatory military service in Korea, prosecutors said yesterday. Although he didn’t release any names, Han Myung-gwan, head prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office, said at a press conference yesterday that a total of 127 men, including the newly discovered 29, have been booked for violating the law on substitute military service. Prosecutors began their investigation in April. Han said his team asked the Military Manpower Administration to revoke alternative service status for 98 of the men, Han said. Many of the men are suspected of using their wealth or privileged position to avoid serving in uniform. Prosecutors also yesterday sought arrest warrants for three heads of companies who, they said, hired unqualified students from their college to exempt them from military service. Eleven other owners were also booked on similar charges without detention. Korea requires every young man of sound physical and mental condition to serve for two years in the military. However, a provision in the law allows some who are well-qualified in science and engineering to work for private companies designated by the Military Manpower Administration in lieu of their military service. Since April 25, the prosecution has investigated about 300 of 1,800 such companies to see if they took bribes to hire such men and also to verify whether the employees actually worked there. Among the 29 men who were newly booked, two are the sons of former vice minister-level government officials, the prosecution said. Both are graduates of U.S. colleges. One of them, identified only as a 27-year-old with the family name Kim, regularly skipped work, while the other, 26, surnamed Jang, worked at a wine-waiter training agency, instead of the designated company, Han said. The head of the company owns the training agency. Meanwhile, the prosecution said yesterday it would work with the Manpower Administration to fight an administrative suit seeking to avoid military service filed by the singer Psy. Psy, 30, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, got hired by an unidentified private company as a substitute for the military between January 2003 and November 2005. After he was ordered last week to serve in the military because he skipped work, Psy filed the suit. By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Writer [joe@joongang.co.kr] |
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