ID :
83938
Fri, 10/09/2009 - 18:22
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/83938
The shortlink copeid
Gov`t to punish draft dodgers with longer military service
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- Draft dodgers in South Korea will be punished with
longer military services while additional medical checks will be required for
those applying for exemptions, a military manpower agency said Friday.
The new measures will take effect between 2010 and 2011, the Military Manpower
Administration (MMA) told a parliamentary committee on defense affairs.
All able-bodied Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 must serve 24 months in
the country's military that confronts North Korea across a heavily fortified
border.
Evading the draft has long been a hot-button issue here, with political
candidates losing elections for not having served or for having their sons
exempted.
Police are in the middle of an investigation into hundreds of men suspected of
trying to avoid the draft by faking illnesses or physical disabilities. Some 530
males were caught trying to evade the draft over the past five years, with
popular entertainers, athletes, and the sons of influential figures among them.
Some draft dodgers are said to manipulate urine tests, often with the help of
doctors, to feign kidney disease or abnormal blood pressure.
Once the punitive steps are enforced, those caught attempting to evade the draft
will be forced to serve three years, one and half times longer than the mandatory
period, the MMA said.
The agency said it will also require reexamination of conscripts whose medical
records do not show treatment for cited illnesses over the previous year.
As a reward for those who fulfill their service, defense officials said they were
considering giving men who have served extra points in job application
assessments by employers, a policy that was ruled unconstitutional a decade ago
as being discriminatory against women.
The government will also reward those who sign up after being treated medically
or even if they have foreign residency, the MMA said.
Since September, police have been looking into the medical histories of more than
200 men suspected of intentionally receiving shoulder surgery to avoid
conscription. At least three doctors are currently under probe for helping
patients fake medical records.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- Draft dodgers in South Korea will be punished with
longer military services while additional medical checks will be required for
those applying for exemptions, a military manpower agency said Friday.
The new measures will take effect between 2010 and 2011, the Military Manpower
Administration (MMA) told a parliamentary committee on defense affairs.
All able-bodied Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 must serve 24 months in
the country's military that confronts North Korea across a heavily fortified
border.
Evading the draft has long been a hot-button issue here, with political
candidates losing elections for not having served or for having their sons
exempted.
Police are in the middle of an investigation into hundreds of men suspected of
trying to avoid the draft by faking illnesses or physical disabilities. Some 530
males were caught trying to evade the draft over the past five years, with
popular entertainers, athletes, and the sons of influential figures among them.
Some draft dodgers are said to manipulate urine tests, often with the help of
doctors, to feign kidney disease or abnormal blood pressure.
Once the punitive steps are enforced, those caught attempting to evade the draft
will be forced to serve three years, one and half times longer than the mandatory
period, the MMA said.
The agency said it will also require reexamination of conscripts whose medical
records do not show treatment for cited illnesses over the previous year.
As a reward for those who fulfill their service, defense officials said they were
considering giving men who have served extra points in job application
assessments by employers, a policy that was ruled unconstitutional a decade ago
as being discriminatory against women.
The government will also reward those who sign up after being treated medically
or even if they have foreign residency, the MMA said.
Since September, police have been looking into the medical histories of more than
200 men suspected of intentionally receiving shoulder surgery to avoid
conscription. At least three doctors are currently under probe for helping
patients fake medical records.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
