ID :
188547
Tue, 06/14/2011 - 14:38
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/188547
The shortlink copeid
Lawmaker cites loopholes in screening of draft dodgers
(3rd LD)
(ATTN: ADDS details in last two paras)
SEOUL, June 14 (Yonhap) -- The Military Manpower Administration needs to heighten its screening procedures to hunt for draft dodgers as it belatedly found some draftees who avoided military service by forging documents to pose as the disabled, a lawmaker said Tuesday.
Five young men were found this year to have illegally doctored such documents to help them evade the compulsory military service. They already had won exemptions two or three years ago, according to the report by Rep. Shin Hak-yong of the main opposition Democratic Party.
The administration belatedly confirmed early this year that they have illegally avoided the military service, and they were forced to serve in the military, Shin said.
Some administration officials failed to check their physical status because they only screened their faked documents, the lawmaker said.
"The Military Manpower Administration must remedy shortcomings in the screening procedures for those who could exploit documents for the disabled to evade military service," Shin said in the statement.
All healthy young South Korean men must serve for at least two years in the nation's 650,000-member military, an integral part of the South's defense against communist North Korea.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire that has never been replaced with a peace treaty.
While authorities regularly crack down on draft dodgers, there is a widespread perception that some rich and influential people pay bribes to help their sons stay out of the military.
A separate report released on Tuesday found that 49.9 percent of draft dodgers over the past four years were professional athletes, students in foreign universities and entertainers.
Among them, there were 118 athletes, 111 overseas students and 31 TV celebrities, according to the report by the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis.
Professional athletes and entertainers are often caught attempting to evade their compulsory military duties because of fears that the military service could interrupt their careers. Some young men studying overseas also use their schooling to repeatedly delay conscription.
Meanwhile, Military Manpower Administration Commissioner Kim Young-hoo reported to the parliament that the agency is mulling scrapping a policy that exempts men who have not graduated middle school from compulsory military service.
Kim said the policy may be revised as early as the latter half of the year, citing that around 10 percent of those who are exempt due to academic reasons later take examinations for middle school diplomas.
(ATTN: ADDS details in last two paras)
SEOUL, June 14 (Yonhap) -- The Military Manpower Administration needs to heighten its screening procedures to hunt for draft dodgers as it belatedly found some draftees who avoided military service by forging documents to pose as the disabled, a lawmaker said Tuesday.
Five young men were found this year to have illegally doctored such documents to help them evade the compulsory military service. They already had won exemptions two or three years ago, according to the report by Rep. Shin Hak-yong of the main opposition Democratic Party.
The administration belatedly confirmed early this year that they have illegally avoided the military service, and they were forced to serve in the military, Shin said.
Some administration officials failed to check their physical status because they only screened their faked documents, the lawmaker said.
"The Military Manpower Administration must remedy shortcomings in the screening procedures for those who could exploit documents for the disabled to evade military service," Shin said in the statement.
All healthy young South Korean men must serve for at least two years in the nation's 650,000-member military, an integral part of the South's defense against communist North Korea.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire that has never been replaced with a peace treaty.
While authorities regularly crack down on draft dodgers, there is a widespread perception that some rich and influential people pay bribes to help their sons stay out of the military.
A separate report released on Tuesday found that 49.9 percent of draft dodgers over the past four years were professional athletes, students in foreign universities and entertainers.
Among them, there were 118 athletes, 111 overseas students and 31 TV celebrities, according to the report by the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis.
Professional athletes and entertainers are often caught attempting to evade their compulsory military duties because of fears that the military service could interrupt their careers. Some young men studying overseas also use their schooling to repeatedly delay conscription.
Meanwhile, Military Manpower Administration Commissioner Kim Young-hoo reported to the parliament that the agency is mulling scrapping a policy that exempts men who have not graduated middle school from compulsory military service.
Kim said the policy may be revised as early as the latter half of the year, citing that around 10 percent of those who are exempt due to academic reasons later take examinations for middle school diplomas.
