Beyond abolition: How Korea could reform military service privileges for athletes

Calls to abolish military service privileges for athletes have intensified in the wake of the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026. Politicians and the Defense Ministry have united in calling for the gradual reduction and eventual abolition of the special military service system for artists and athletes.

But simply choosing between abolishing and retaining the system will not resolve the issue.

“For athletes like us who have no professional league to compete in, an Asian Games gold medal is the last lifeline keeping our careers alive,” an athlete in an amateur sport told the JoongAng Ilbo.

In Korea, all able-bodied men must complete 18 to 21 months of service under a mandatory draft system. Athletes who finish third or higher at the Olympics or win a gold medal at the Asian Games can be assigned to alternative service and only have to complete three weeks of basic training and 544 hours of community service over 34 months.

However, the system has come under scrutiny after Korean men's football players whose team won a gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 said post-match that winning a military service exemption, rather than the medal itself, had been their main focus.

While such controversy has emerged, in reality the pool of eligible military recruits is shrinking rapidly, which is making it increasingly difficult to maintain a system under which a single medal can effectively secure an exemption from military service.

Experts' recommendations point to three main directions for reform: raising the standards for granting special military service privileges, tightening eligibility requirements and changing the form of service rather than granting exemptions.

“Since athletes who excel at the Asian level cannot necessarily be considered national-level talent, it seems reasonable to abolish military service privileges for Asian Games medalists,” said Kim Jeong-hyo, a research professor at Seoul National University. “Limiting eligibility to athletes who win at least a bronze medal at the Olympics would also be more convincing to the public.”

However, using the Olympics as the sole benchmark would create another problem. It could lead to accusations of unfair treatment of athletes competing in prestigious international tournaments that rival or surpass the Olympics in stature, such as the FIFA World Cup, the World Baseball Classic and major tennis and golf championships.

This is why experts argue that while the eligibility threshold should be raised to the equivalent of an Olympic medal, the system should also recognize achievements at the most prestigious international competitions in each sport.

Even with stricter standards, the controversy over athletes benefiting from team achievements despite making minimal contributions would remain.

At the 2012 London Olympics, football player Kim Kee-hee qualified for special military service privileges despite playing just four minutes in Korea's bronze-medal campaign, which sparked controversy over whether he had received an unfair benefit. In team sports, eligibility should therefore be determined not only by whether a team wins a medal but also by how much each athlete actually contributed.

Many experts also urge caution over introducing a points-based system that would award military service privileges based on cumulative achievements across multiple competitions rather than the outcome of a single tournament.

“Once you attempt to quantify achievements across different sports, disputes over the standards applied to dozens of disciplines become inevitable,” said Chung Hee-jun, an executive committee member of civic group Cultural Action.

“If the qualifying threshold is 100 points, questions of fairness will inevitably arise over athletes who fall just one point short. Athletes could also exploit the system by competing in minor tournaments to rack up points, or even be tempted to fix matches,” Chung warned.

The third proposal represents the most fundamental change: replacing military service exemptions with alternative forms of service.

Chung proposed “reducing the required service period by six months while requiring athletes to serve full-time for one year.”

Chung cited the examples of Ted Williams, who served as a military pilot during World War II before returning to MLB and winning an MVP award, and Korean football legend Cha Bum-kun, who completed his Air Force service.

Critics argue that a year away from competition can be devastating in modern sports. But there is a significant difference in public perception between athletes who are exempted from military service altogether and those who fulfill their obligations through a different form of service.

Other proposals include expanding military service deferments and increasing opportunities for athletes to serve with the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps, also known as Sangmu in Korean.

However, such a system would have to overcome opposition from people in their 20s who could see it as another form of legal privilege that allows athletes to earn hundreds of millions or even billions of won before enlisting after retirement.

Athletes who receive special military service privileges are also required to complete 544 hours of sports-related community service, but controversies over inadequate fulfillment of these obligations have persisted.

BY PARK LIN [[email protected]]