Man starves himself to avoid military service, gets suspended term

Soldiers of the Republic of Korea Army Special Warfare Command are being transported to Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, southwestern Seoul, for an anti-terrorism exercise last Tuesday. (Yonhap)

South Korean court on Monday sentenced a 22-year-old man to two years in prison, suspended for two years, for starving himself in a bid to avoid mandatary military service.

Gwangju District Court found the defendant guilty of violating the Military Service Act, which mandates all able-bodied male citizens to serve in the military for at least 18 months as of 2024. But men whose physical conditions are under certain standards can carry out alternate non-combat service for a similar period.

Between 2021 and 2022 when the defendant went through a pre-draft medical checkup, this included those with a body mass index under 17.

The defendant, who weighed 54 kilometers in January 2021, brought his weight down to 49.7 kilograms and maintained a weight of 50.4 kilograms until February 2022, when he received a second medical checkup.

Investigators found that he deliberately reduced his food and liquid intake during the time, which they said was in order to be skinny enough to be subject to alternate service. He denied the accusation by saying that stress from his expulsion from university and failure to get into the university he wanted had led to the weight loss.

The court, however, said the evidence points to the defendant knowing about the physical standards of the military, and testimony by witnesses shows the he had repeatedly said he would lose weight to be exempted from combat duty. It also pointed out that lab tests of his urine indicate deliberate starvation and dehydration, which backs the suspicion that he lost weight on purpose.

Those who use deceitful means to avoid serving are in violation of the Article 86 of the Military Service Act, and can be subject to up to five years in prison.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)