The Useless 'Byeongjeok Separate Management System'... "If Properly Operated, It Would Have Prevented Military Service Evasion"

Seoul Yangcheon-gu Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] A large-scale 'military service evasion' case involving professional sports players such as volleyball and soccer athletes, celebrities, legal professionals, and children of high-ranking public officials has come under prosecution investigation, putting our society on edge from the very beginning of the new year. Amid this, legal circles are voicing opinions that it is necessary to revisit and improve the 'Separate Military Service Record Management System,' which has shown vulnerabilities.

Jang Dal-young, a lawyer and head of LAW&S Sports Culture Law Policy Research Institute, emphasized in a phone interview with this paper on the 4th, "This military service evasion is a more serious issue compared to previous cases because it occurred despite the implementation of the Separate Military Service Record Management System."

The Separate Military Service Record Management System is a system that separately manages the military service records of public figures who receive significant public attention regarding their military service status, such as popular culture artists, athletes, public officials of grade 4 or higher, high-income earners, and their children. As scandals involving military service corruption among influential social figures repeated, the Military Manpower Administration has operated this system since September 22, 2017. Accordingly, the subjects are verified by the Military Manpower Administration for the appropriateness of their military service disposition and are required to submit physical examination-related documents to the administration for monitoring.

It is shocking that most of the individuals currently under prosecution investigation for military service evasion appear to be subjects of this separate management system. Professional volleyball player Jo Jae-sung (27, OK Financial Group), who admitted to evading military service, is also reported to have been under separate management. The fact that military service evasion could not be prevented despite continuous data collection and multiple monitoring sessions means that this system has effectively become useless. Lawyer Jang said, "If the Separate Military Service Record Management System had been properly operated, there would have been no problem," adding, "It is necessary to identify and improve loopholes such as whether there was sufficient manpower within the Military Manpower Administration to implement the system."

Photo by Asia Economy DB

Pro Volleyball Player Jo Jae-seong Photo by Yonhap News

There are also calls for the identification of internal 'public enemies' who assisted military service evasion brokers through the prosecution investigation. The legal community believes that Gu, a broker who was revealed to be a former military investigator (civil servant) and was arrested and indicted, could not have carried out the scheme alone in this large-scale military service evasion case.

According to the prosecution's investigation, Gu established an administrative office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, that resolved military service issues and received tens of millions of won per case from clients, helping them obtain military service exemptions for various reasons such as epilepsy and other chronic illnesses, postponement of enlistment, and financial hardship. It is highly likely that there were multiple accomplices, including collaborators within the Military Manpower Administration. The prosecution is also focusing on whether the crimes were organized. In this regard, the Criminal Division 5 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Park Eun-hye) is investigating another broker, Kim, who previously worked under Gu, without detention. Last month, it was confirmed that player A, who is active in a first-division professional soccer team, was summoned and investigated by the prosecution. A avoided military service by receiving an epilepsy diagnosis with Gu's help. On the 5th, Jo Jae-sung, who was falsely diagnosed with epilepsy and received a grade 4 social service agent classification, is scheduled to appear before the prosecution for investigation.

Meanwhile, the investigation team recently expanded its scale by receiving dispatched investigators from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. On the 29th of last month, Seoul Southern District Prosecutor Yang Seok-jo reported the case to Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok and requested reinforcement of the investigation team, which was approved by the Prosecutor General. A Supreme Prosecutors' Office official stated, "Additional investigators may be dispatched in the future, or other departments within the Southern District Prosecutors' Office may support the investigation."

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