In early January 2023, it became clear that a large brokerage organization was under investigation by the police for helping celebrities, athletes, and children from wealthy families to falsify their medical records in order to be released from compulsory military service.
In the midst of this event, lawyer Yoon Byung-gwan, who served as a bailiff in the Personnel Service Department, took part in a radio broadcast on January 9 and talked about various methods used to evade military service that he had heard or heard about.
On this occasion, he began to explain: “According to article 12 of the Law on Military Service, the results of the service exam are divided into grades 1-7 according to the military doctor. Military service is divided into three broad categories: active military service, social work and exemption from military service. »
He clarified: “Usually ranks 1 to 3 are active—duty soldiers, rank 4 is an additional service worker or a social worker, and rank 5 is transferred to military work, but only undergoes civil protection training. Grades 5 and 6 are considered exempt from military service.”
But then for what reasons do we switch to such estimates? The lawyer returned to the fact that the aforementioned brokerage organization generally used the pretext of epilepsy.
He explained: “Epilepsy is a disorder in which there are disturbances in the activity of nerve cells. According to the revision rules, even if there are no abnormalities found in the EEG test, if a person has a history of treatment for a year or more, he can receive an additional level 4 service. If a person has a history of treatment for 2 years or more of treatment, he can receive a grade of 5.”
Lawyer Yoon then shared some of the cases where celebrities tried to avoid military service that he had dealt with or heard about.
He shared: “There have been cases when celebrities deliberately chipped their teeth and were released from military service. There was a celebrity who said she could see ghosts and claimed she had a mental disorder.
There were several cases when people mixed blood or drugs into a urine test to avoid serving in the army. There were cases when they had surgery on their shoulder, usually to dislocate it intentionally.”
The case of a celebrity who claimed to have seen ghosts clearly caused a reaction. Lawyer Yun came back to this by explaining:
“In the case of “ghost visions” they are not released automatically. To be appointed a social worker or released from service, they must receive a diagnosis at a professional medical institution. A celebrity who claimed to “see ghosts” was tried in 4th grade, but (he was caught) and the case was overturned.”
He went on to say: “There are unimaginable ways that people try to avoid military service, for example, pretending to be deaf. I’ve even heard of some people cutting off their fingers or even testicles in the past. I really don’t know why people want to go this far. »
So, what can you do to prevent these scams? The lawyer concluded:
“The level of punishment for violating the Law on Military Service should be increased. He pointed out that the current measure is rather weak (in the case of self-mutilation or lying, this will entail from 1 to 5 years in prison). He also pointed out that the military personnel administration or the relevant investigative bodies should also strengthen investigations to prevent such cases. »
On the other hand, Ravi from VIXX is suspected of using the services of the aforementioned brokerage organization to work in public service.
