2 out of 10 Members of the 21st National Assembly Are Exempt from Military Service

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu]The exemption rate from military service for the 21st National Assembly members was found to be lower than that of the general public.

Not only the lawmakers themselves but also the exemption rates for their sons and grandsons were lower than those of the general public, leading to the interpretation that the concept of 'noblesse oblige,' which signifies the social responsibility of the leadership class, is established at least in terms of military service.

On the 10th, the Military Manpower Administration disclosed the military service records of 300 members of the 21st National Assembly and 239 direct descendants (males aged 18 and over) on the official gazette and the Military Manpower Administration website in accordance with the 'Act on Reporting and Disclosure of Military Service Records of Public Officials, etc.'

Among the 300 members of the 21st National Assembly, excluding 57 women and 1 member without military records (Tae Young-ho of the Future United Party), 195 out of 242 fulfilled their military service either as active duty (140) or supplementary service (55). 80.6% (195) of male lawmakers fulfilled their military obligations, while 19.4% (47) were exempted.

The military service exemption rate for the 21st National Assembly members is 4.7 percentage points lower than the exemption rate of the general public in the same age group (24.1%) and 2.9 percentage points higher than the exemption rate of the 20th National Assembly (16.5%).

The general public exemption rate is calculated as the final exemption rate from the military service examination to the age at which enlistment obligation is waived, which differs from the exemption rate at the age 19 military service examination.

Among the 47 exempted lawmakers, the reasons for exemption were 28 (59.6%) due to imprisonment, 18 (38.3%) due to illness, and 1 (2.1%) due to military service exemption related to the Military Demarcation Line. The Military Demarcation Line exemption is granted to those who migrated from the area north of the Military Demarcation Line, with Future United Party member Ji Seong-ho being the subject.

Among 226 direct descendants of the 21st National Assembly members, 209 (92.5%) were identified as having completed or currently awaiting active duty or supplementary service. Thirteen direct descendants who were subject to the military service examination were excluded from the statistics. The exemption rate among direct descendants was 7.5%, which is 1.0 percentage point lower than the general public exemption rate of 8.5% in the same age group. Among the 13 exempted direct descendants, 76.4% were exempted due to illness, and 2 (11.8%) due to Military Demarcation Line exemption. The two Military Demarcation Line exemption cases are the sons of Tae Young-ho.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.