Broker Who Assisted Military Service Evasion by Falsely Diagnosing Epilepsy Sentenced to Prison

A broker who helped lower or exempt military service examination grades by obtaining false epilepsy diagnoses has been sentenced to prison.

On the 10th, Judge Kim Yoon-hee of the Criminal Division 9 at Seoul Southern District Court sentenced the broker Kim (38), who was detained and indicted for violating the Military Service Act, to three years in prison and ordered a fine of 217.6 million won. Twenty-three individuals accused of evading military service and their parents were each sentenced to prison terms ranging from one year with a two-year probation to one year and six months with a three-year probation, along with community service orders.

The court explained the sentencing by stating, "The defendant (Kim) conspired with military service obligors who came seeking ways to postpone their service, persuading them to evade their military duties and profited greatly by receiving fees. Due to the defendant’s crimes, young people who faithfully fulfilled their national defense duties must have felt significant loss, so strict punishment is necessary."

Regarding those who evaded military service, the court ruled, "Although each of them pleaded their individual circumstances, even considering those, the fact remains that they deliberately fabricated false medical conditions to evade their national defense duties." The court also pointed out about the parents, "Given their active involvement in the crimes, their culpability cannot be considered light."

Kim was indicted on charges of conspiring with military service obligors from February 2020, after opening a military service consultation cafe on an internet portal, to fabricate epilepsy symptoms, obtain medical certificates, and submit them to the Military Manpower Administration to receive military service reductions until November of last year.

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