If it’s not “gold,” then it has to be “khaki.”

An athlete on the national football team wears a gold medal in men’s football in the Jakarta Palembang Asian Games in September 2018. Courtesy of the Korea Football Association

“I don’t think about military service exemptions that much.”

It’s a big fat lie that athletes who haven’t completed their mandatory military service always say when they compete in the Asian Games or the Olympics. They are aware that the public is sensitive to the mandatory military service issue, so they are reluctant to directly mention exemptions, but the shy smile on their faces whenever they mention a gold medal in the Asian Games reveals their true intentions.

Currently, athletes who win a gold medal in the Asian Games, win any medal at the Olympics, or who finish in second or first place in a domestic and international competition recognized by the Military Manpower Administration can be exempt from mandatory military service. According to the Military Service Act, which has been enforced since 2015, people who are exempt from military service must take part in a one-month basic military training and conduct 544 hours of volunteer work within 34 months after the training. The exemption is no longer granted to athletes taking part in the World Baseball Classic and the World Cup football competition.

Male athletes competing in the Hangzhou Asian Games and who have yet to serve in the military all dream of winning a gold medal. If they win a gold medal, then they receive a raise, earn more points for their pension, and also get a bonus. But in the center of every male athlete’s mind is the exemption from military service.

In the case of men’s football, the South Korean team won in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Games. In 2014, Kim Seung-gyu and Kim Jin-su were exempt from military service. Four years later, Kim Min-jae, Son Heung-min, and Hwang Hee-chan received the same benefits. When an athlete is exempt from mandatory military service, he has a lot to gain. Whether he renews a contract with his existing club or transfers to a new club, the salary that the athlete receives and the transfer fee that the club receives are bound to increase. An Asian Games gold medal practically gives wings to an athlete heading to an overseas league or to a prestigious club.

Lee Kang-in (22) of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) is competing in the Hangzhou Asian Games. Unlike the World Cup, it is not mandatory for the football club to allow its player to compete in the Asian Games. PSG let Lee Kang-in compete in the Asian Games because not only was Lee Kang-in determined to compete, but the club could also benefit if Lee is exempt from military service.

Hwang Sun-hong, the manager of the men’s national football team in the Asian Games, selected Paik Seung-ho (26, Jeonbuk), Park Jin-seob (28, Jeonbuk) and Seol Young-woo (25, Ulsan) as his wildcard players (athletes ages 25 and older). Paik Seung-ho, a midfielder who scored a mid range goal against Brazil in the round of sixteen at the Qatar World Cup, is the team’s captain. Paik’s contract with Jeonbuk ends at the end of the year, and if things go as scheduled, he will join the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps at the end of the year. Park Jin-seob, who is a defensive player, will serve as a social service agent due to his age. In the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, South Korea failed to advance beyond the round of eight, and Seol Young-woo failed to be exempt from military service. If the South Korean team doesn’t win gold in the Hangzhou Games, Seol will also join the Athletic Corps at the end of the year.

In the case of baseball, the men’s team won three consecutive Asian Games gold medals in Guangzhou 2010, Incheon 2014, and Jakarta Palembang 2018. South Korea also seems closest to winning in the Hangzhou Games, based on a review of the athletes. Japan usually forms its national team centered on athletes from corporate-owned clubs. Taiwan is represented by its best players from athletes competing in the U.S. minor league to athletes competing in its own leagues of professional and business-owned clubs. Still, it is hard to deny that the performance of Taiwanese professional players falls somewhat short compared with South Korean professionals.

Ryu Joong-il, the manager of the national baseball team competing in the Asian Games, selected young athletes in general. It was a decision he made to bounce back from the fourth-place finish following a poor performance at the Tokyo Olympics. The team members are mostly under the age of 25 or athletes with four or less years of experience in professional teams. He also chose athletes under the age of 29, such as Park Se-woong (28, Lotte) with the wild cards.

South Korea is the country with the most Asian Games medals in golf: thirteen gold, thirteen silver, and nine bronze. South Korea swept all four medals in the men’s and women’s individual and team competitions in the 2006 Doha Games and the 2010 Guangzhou Games. But in the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Games, the nation failed to win a gold medal for the first time in two decades.

In the Hangzhou Games, professional golfers were allowed to play for the first time. Im Sung-jae (25) and Kim Si-woo (28) competing in the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) tour in the U.S. are in pursuit of a gold medal in Hangzhou. Im Sung-jae, ranked 27th in the world, is the highest ranking male golfer competing in this year’s Asian Games. Kim Si-woo, ranked 40th, is the second highest ranking athlete following Im. With both Im Sung-jae and Kim Si-woo competing in Hangzhou, expectations run high for South Korea to win gold in both the men’s individual and team competitions.

In go, if 9-dan Shin Jin-seo (23) wins a gold medal in the Hangzhou Games, he can also be exempt from military service. In August, Shin was the first South Korean player to win the Ing Cup, referred to as the “go Olympics,” in fourteen years. Shin said that when he prepared for the Ing Cup, other members on the national team were understanding of his situation and said, “I played against my colleagues many times, and we studied together at the Jincheon National Training Center.”