Conscription in South Korea

Conscription in South Korea has existed since 1957 and requires male citizens between the ages of 18 and 35 to perform compulsory military service. Women are not required to perform military service, but they may voluntarily join the military.
The basis for military conscription in South Korea is the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, which was promulgated on 17 July 1948. The constitution states in Article 39, "All citizens shall have the duty of national defense under the conditions as prescribed by Act."
In addition, the conscription is defined and acted by the "Military Service Act" (병역법). According to the "Military Service Act" Article 3, "Every male citizen of the Republic of Korea shall faithfully perform mandatory military service, as prescribed by the Constitution of the Republic of Korea and this Act. A female may perform only active service or reserve service through volunteering" and "Except as provided in this Act, no special case concerning mandatory military service shall be prescribed". Only males being drafted was confirmed by the Constitutional Court of Korea, which declared in 2006 that it is the right of government to decide whoever is subject of the conscription, and hence there is no constitutional error of government decisions. Conscription is managed by the Military Manpower Administration, which was created in 1948.
By law, when a South Korean man turns 18 years old, he is enlisted for "first citizen service," meaning he is liable for military duty, but is not yet required to serve. When he turns 19 years old (or, in some instances, 20 years old), he is required to undergo an Impairment & Disability evaluation to determine whether he is suitable for military service. The table below shows the evaluation's possible grades and their outcomes, according to the Military Service Act. Men must enlist by the time they turn 28.
The age standard is from January 1 to December 31 of the year of age.
There are seven physical grades. Grade name is I, II, III, IV, V, VI and VII. Before 1984 grades name is A, B (respectively B-I, B-II, B-III), C, D and E
I, II, III and IV is Accepted, and grades V, VI and VII is Rejected.
The criteria for determining the physical grade shall be in accordance with Attached form 2 and 3 of the "Rules for examination of Conscription Physical Examination, etc.(병역판정 신체검사 등 검사규칙)" Attached form 2 sets the criteria for determining height and weight. Attached form 3 is the evaluation criteria for diseases and mental and physical disabilities, which vary from year to year.
In the following criteria, diseases and mental and physical disabilities are described mainly as representative or known.
According to Article 14 of the Military Service Act, grades I to IV are based on qualifications (education, age, etc.) and are subject to active service, supplementary, wartime workers, Grade V exemptions, Grade VI exemptions, and Grade VII medical examinations. The criteria for disposing of active duty or supplementary officers in grades I to IV are determined by the Military Manpower Administration's announcement (annual announcement of conscription inspection). According to the announcement, the criteria for military service are as follows.
Before the 1970s, the criteria for disposition of active duty and supplementary military service cannot be confirmed due to lack of data at the time.
In 1984, Change of Physical Grade Name.
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The length of compulsory military service in South Korea varies based on military branch. Active duty soldiers serve 1 year 6 months in the Army or Marine Corps, 1 year 8 months in the Navy, or 1 year 9 months in the Air Force. After conscripts finish their military service, they are automatically placed on the reserve roster and are obligated to attend 3 days of annual military training for 6 years (5 years from 2021).
Non-active duty personnel, or "supplemental service" personnel serve for various lengths: 1 year 9 months for social work personnel (better known as public service workers - personnel ordered to do public service work at places that require auxiliary workers such as local community centers like city halls, government agencies, and public facilities like subway stations); 2 years 10 months for arts and sports personnel or industrial technical personnel; and 3 years for public health doctors, lawyers, veterinarians, or expert researchers.
In 2010, there was growing public pressure to either shorten the length of conscription or to switch to voluntary military service, and calls from experts for a gradual phasing out of conscription rather than complete abolition. However, in December 2010, after taking into consideration of the 2010 ROKS Cheonan sinking and Bombardment of Yeonpyeong incidents, the South Korean government said it would not reduce service periods.
Artists and players who have won government accredited competitions are allowed to work as 'Art and Sports Personnel'. After a month of military training, Art and Sports Service agents work through their specialties to finish their military services; e.g. in professional sports teams, art galleries, museums or orchestra bands. Unlike other service agents who are working at factories, farms, universities, institutes or nursing homes, Art and Sports Service agents are allowed to work abroad.
Former president Park Chung-hee introduced exemptions for athletes in 1973 to win more medals for the country; some historians believe this also served as a distraction against the government's unpopularity. After winning a gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics, wrestler Yang Jung-mo was granted the first exemption. In the 1980s, president Chun Doo-hwan promised exemptions to any athlete who won a medal of any kind at either the 1986 Asian Games or the 1988 Summer Olympics.
When South Korea co-hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2002, their national football team was guaranteed an exemption if they reached the round of 16; the same promise was made to the national baseball team in 2006 if they reached the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic. Public outrage ensued, and similar exemptions have been rarely granted since.
Current conscription regulations stipulate that athletes who win medals in the Olympic Games or gold medals in the Asian Games are granted exemptions from military service and are placed in Grade 4. They are required to do four weeks of basic military training and engage in sports field for 42 months. After that, they are automatically placed on the reserve roster, and are obligated to attend a few days of annual military training for six years. In practice, after athletes finish their four weeks of basic military training, they are able to continue their own sports career during the 34 months of duty.
The policy has resulted in coaches being accused of selecting players desperate to avoid military service instead of choosing the best athletes. Parents encourage their children to pursue sports in hopes of them receiving an exemption.
Notable athletes who have been granted exemptions from military service are the bronze medal-winning men's football team at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2008 Olympic gold medalist badminton player Lee Yong-dae, swimmer Park Tae-hwan, 2014 Asian Games gold medalist tennis player Chung Hyeon, 2018 Asian Games gold medalist footballer Son Heung-min, and 2018 Asian Games gold medalist baseball player Lee Jung-hoo.
Esports players were not exempt from conscription until 2023, when esports became a regular event at the 2022 Asian Games. Because esports had become a medal event in these games, it became possible for players to be exempt from conscription, so long as they won a gold medal in the games. The gold medal-winning roster of the country's national esports team became the first players to be granted the exemption.
A total of 220 exemptions were granted from 2008 to 2018.
Exemptions are also granted to classical musicians and ballet performers who win first place in stipulated international-level competitions. A two-year extension for notable K-pop artists (from a law that was passed in December 2020) could also be given by government for their career, the age for joining military is 30 (which previously was 28). Some resources and media outlets claim that the primary reason for this amendment was singer-songwriter Jin, who, at the time, was about to turn 28. As his group BTS has had a huge impact (especially in the music industry) worldwide and contributed greatly to the spread of Korean culture and the Hallyu Wave, exemptions for them were in talks for a few years. Despite this, BTS' record label, Big Hit Music, announced on October 17, 2022, that Jin withdrew his enlistment deferral request and will be the first in the group to enter into mandatory military service, with other members of BTS to be enlisted on a later date.
The right to conscientious objection was not recognized in South Korea until recently. Over 400 men were typically imprisoned at any given time for refusing military service for political or religious reasons in the years before right to conscientious objection was established.
On 28 June 2018, the South Korean Constitutional Court ruled the Military Service Act unconstitutional and ordered the government to accommodate civilian forms of military service for conscientious objectors. Later that year on 1 November 2018, the South Korean Supreme Court legalized conscientious objection as a basis for rejecting compulsory military service.
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The Ministry of National Defense has revealed that it failed to provide sneakers to 7,411 recruits who joined the military from 22 May to 4 June 2012, after the budget was insufficient for need. The Defense ministry originally projected the cost of each pair of sneakers to be 11,000 KRW. However, the actual cost turned out to be 15,000 KRW.
The office of National Assembly member Kim Kwang-jin of Democratic United Party revealed that cadets in Korea Military Academy were provided with sneakers worth 60,000 KRW and tennis shoes. Cadets in Korea Army Academy at Yeongcheon were provided with sneakers worth 64,250 KRW, in addition to running shoes and soccer shoes.
For dual citizens, or those with multiple citizenships, male South Koreans must choose their citizenship by the time they turn 18, before 31 March of that year. If these males choose to revoke their South Korean citizenship, they will not be required to complete their mandatory military service. However, if they fail to choose their citizenship by their 18th year, they will be subjected to fulfill their mandatory military service and, for those who wish to maintain their multiple citizenships, an oath not to exert foreign nationality within two years since finishing their military service. If males choose to renounce their citizenship by their 18th year, they are ineligible to gain a South Korean work visa (F series) until after they turn 40 years of age. It may still be possible to gain an E series visa.
There have been cases of Koreans abroad (e.g. Korean Americans) being forced to serve in the military, as they were unaware they were actually citizens of South Korea. This happens when these people visit South Korea. One cause of this is the inadvertent inclusion on the family register.
In 2011, the government dropped race-based requirements for mix-raced Korean nationals conscripted into the armed forces. However, there currently is no law allowing non-ethnic Korean citizens conscription into the armed forces. All naturalized citizens and citizens not of partial Korean ethnicity have a choice of whether to enlist or not.
The Forced Labour Convention explicitly excludes "any work or service exacted in virtue of compulsory military service laws for work of a purely military character" from its scope. However, ILO defines conscription of non-military purpose as forced labour.
According to ILO, South Korean conscription violates the forced labour convention, because South Korea enrolls men with disabilities for non-military purposes. A majority (+90%) of the "Reserve - class 4 -" group work as "social service agents (사회복무요원)", and earn far less than the minimum legal wage at various fields, including government offices, subway stations, tax offices, post offices, and sanitaria.
In April 2021, South Korea ratified the Forced Labour Convention, but conscription remained in place. South Korea changed its conscription law by providing "right to decide to be enrolled" to "reserve - class 4 -. those with minor disabilities". South Korea claims that this change makes the conscription legitimate because "reserve - class 4" now have the right to decide their methods of conscription between soldiers with active duty and "social service agents". However, ILO continues to argue that enforcing "reserve - class 4-" to work as a "social service agent" is a violation of the Forced Labour Convention.
In recent years, the South Korean government has been preparing a policy to lower conscription standards for mental and physical conditions that were previously considered exempt, in light of concerns that the country's low birthrate will lead to fewer conscripts; South Korea had the lowest fertility rate in the world in both 2020 and 2021. Experts have stated that such actions will lead to wider problems already present in the military, by recruiting personnel who would not be able to adapt to the closed military.
In general, the South Korean public tends to be intolerant towards men who attempt to evade mandatory military service or receive special treatment, especially if they are exploiting family wealth or political connections. Draft evasion is a punishable crime, but many entertainers, athletes, politicians and their children are known to have fabricated medical or other reasons to seek exemption from military service. According to a 2017 report by the Military Manpower Administration, the most common evasion tactic was extreme weight loss or gain (37%), followed by fabrication of mental illness (23.7%), and deliberate full-body tattoos (20.3%). Studying abroad or migrating overseas to obtain foreign citizenship are considered the preferred option for sons in wealthy families, while nearly a hundred high-ranking politicians including sitting members of the National Assembly have managed to arrange unexplained exemptions for their sons. These cases of draft evasion are to be distinguished from conscientious objection on political or religious grounds.
In 2002, just before South Korean pop singer Yoo Seung-jun was due to be drafted for his military service, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He was born in Seoul and migrated to the United States at the age of 13. He had already obtained U.S. permanent residency and, in order to evade military service, went to Los Angeles, where he acquired citizenship within two months, subsequently renouncing his Korean nationality. The South Korean government considered it an act of desertion and deported him, banning him from entering the country permanently. In February 2017, Yoo lost his second and final appeal regarding his entry ban which prohibited him from entry and any further appeals. However, citing procedural irregularities, the South Korean Supreme Court re-opened the case in July 2019 and sent the case to the Seoul High Court, ordering them to retry Yoo's case. In November 2019, the appeals court reversed the ban, paving the way for Yoo to return to the country, pending approval of a visa. One of Yoo's visa requests was denied in July 2020 by the Los Angeles Consulate, citing Korean law that allows discretion in denying visas to applicants that "posed a threat to public interest."