'Even with Tattoos' or 'Gaining Weight', You Still Go to the Military

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Cases of getting tattoos to avoid military service are expected to decrease in the future. This is because even those with many tattoos will have to enlist for active duty.

On the 1st, the Ministry of National Defense announced that it has publicly notified a revision of the "Military Service Physical Examination Rules," which abolishes the 4th-grade criteria for tattoos and requires an active duty (grades 1 to 3) determination.

Under the current rules, individuals with many tattoos or tattoos in exposed areas that cause discomfort to others could be classified as 4th-grade supplementary service. This has led to cases of avoiding military service through tattoos.

The Ministry of National Defense also restored the active duty criteria for body mass index (BMI) and other factors to pre-2014 levels to expand the number of active duty enlistments, reversing the temporarily strengthened standards implemented in 2015 to resolve the backlog of active duty enlistments. The 4th-grade BMI criteria, calculated by dividing weight (kg) by the square of height (㎡), will be adjusted from "less than 17 or 33 and above" to "less than 16 or 35 and above."

Accordingly, for a height of 175 cm, the overweight threshold for a 4th-grade classification will increase from the previous 102 kg to 108 kg, and the underweight threshold will decrease from 52 kg to 48 kg.

However, to prevent enlistment of individuals unsuitable for active duty or social service personnel, thereby reducing the command burden on field units and preventing incidents involving social service personnel, the criteria related to mental health have been further strengthened.

Regarding mental illnesses, while previously individuals with current symptoms but minimal social or occupational dysfunction could enlist for active duty, going forward only those with no current symptoms or only mild symptoms will be eligible for active duty enlistment. Additionally, the Ministry of National Defense adjusted the 4th-grade supplementary service criteria for 12 mental health items to exclude some individuals with mental illnesses who have difficulty performing social service from supplementary service. Furthermore, the Ministry added a clause for "diffuse interstitial lung disease caused by toxic substances (grades 3 to 6)" to recognize victims of humidifier disinfectant damage.

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