The Military Personnel Administration (MPA) of South Korea announced this Monday that it will initiate a gradual withdrawal of the exemptions from mandatory military service that certain athletes and artists have benefited from until now, following the controversy generated by cases such as that of the K-Pop group BTS.
The controversy has intensified after several football players publicly celebrated their exemption from military service following the victory of the South Korean national team at the Asian Games, a gesture that has provoked strong rejection among men aged 18 to 35 who must fulfill between 18 and 22 months of service, depending on the branch they are assigned to.
"I deeply regret what happened. I take seriously the sense of loss that young people who fulfill their military obligations feel and the public calls to modify the system," pointed out the commissioner of the MPA, Hong So Young.
During an intervention before Parliament, Hong indicated that the MPA is in tune with the Ministry of Defense on a reform proposal that is in its final phase and will be presented shortly, as reported by the newspaper "Korea Times."
In the first stage of the reform, only athletes who achieve titles in international competitions will be exempted, while in the field of national traditional arts, the number of exemptions granted per competition will be reduced from three to one.
The head of the MPA emphasized that the modification of the system "will take time." A comprehensive study is expected to be completed by the end of November, which will be discussed with the ministries and agencies involved before finalizing the definitive design.
"We cannot abolish the system overnight. I take responsibility for implementing reasonable changes as early as next year, but it will be difficult to finish the plan this year," she argued.