Korea's Asian Games exemption row: ministry eyes scrapping benefit

📰 Remarks about skipping military service, made straight after Asian Games gold, are shaking a sports exemption system that has stood for 53 years. 📌 Key points 🥇 Korea beat Japan 1-0 in the final on 3 October to win a fourth straight Asian Games title. 🗣️ Comments and gestures about military service by some players drew heavy criticism. 🏛️ On 6 October the defence ministry formally said it will pursue cutting or scrapping the benefit. ⚡ Lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo said the exemption should end with this very gold medal. ❓ It has not been decided whether the current squad would be affected. 📝 What happened 🗣️ After the final, captain Lee Ki-hyuk shouted, in effect, that the players would not have to do military service, while Yang Min-hyeok suggested he had played with the exemption in mind. Park Seung-su posted a photo wearing a discharge-style cap. All three, and the Korea Football Association, later apologised. 🏛️ At a briefing on 6 October, ministry spokesperson Jeong Bit-na expressed strong regret over the behaviour and called military service a sacred duty for everyone. She said cutting or abolishing supplementary service, including arts and sports personnel, would be built into the defence reform master plan. According to Newsis, the Military Manpower Administration's research on the system is due around mid-November, with a reform plan possibly announced before the end of the year. ⚡ Ahn Cheol-soo argued that eligibility is set by presidential decree, so the president could end the benefit from this gold medal onwards. He also rejected the career-protection argument, saying every young man faces a career break. 🎙️ At a parliamentary audit on 7 October, Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young called the players' behaviour very immature and said she sympathised with calls for abolition. Her ministry will consult the sports and arts sectors, the defence ministry and the Military Manpower Administration. 📊 By the numbers • Men's Asian Games football: four golds in a row • Squad members set to benefit: 20 of 23 (three had already completed service) • Current benefit: four weeks' basic training, 34 months as sports personnel, 544 hours of public service • Military Manpower Administration research: due mid-November 🔭 Why it matters Military service has long been the biggest obstacle for Korean players moving abroad. A change would reshape the career plans of every young Korean dreaming of Europe. Whether this squad becomes the last to benefit, or the first to miss out, depends on the research due in mid-November and the government's decision.