“Gradually reducing it and ultimately abolishing it is the Defense Ministry’s goal,” Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul said during the National Assembly’s annual audit of the ministry in Seoul.
His remarks went a step further than the ministry’s position a day earlier, when it said it was considering reducing or abolishing supplementary service programs for artists and athletes as part of broader defense reforms.
The debate resurfaced after South Korea’s men’s football team secured a fourth consecutive Asian Games gold medal by beating host Japan 1-0 at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Games on Saturday, making 20 of the 23 players eligible for alternative military service.
Several players subsequently drew criticism for remarks or social media posts emphasizing the military-service benefit.
Yang Min-hyeok said after the final that the medal or championship itself had not been his main concern and that he had played with the military-service exemption in mind.
Captain Lee Gi-hyuk held up his gold medal and said, “I’m not going to the military,” while Park Seung-soo posted a locker-room photo of himself wearing a military discharge-style cap. The players later apologized amid public criticism.
Kang expressed regret over the controversy, saying military duty should be treated with respect given the sacrifices of service members and reservists.
Instead of active-duty service, eligible athletes and artists undergo basic military training and serve in their respective fields as arts and sports personnel for 34 months, while completing 544 hours of public service. Active-duty service, by comparison, lasts 18 months in the Army and Marine Corps, 20 months in the Navy and 21 months in the Air Force.
The ministry has cited fairness among those subject to conscription, South Korea’s shrinking pool of military-age personnel and public opinion as factors behind its review of the system.
The issue was among several defense priorities raised during Wednesday’s audit, which also focused heavily on the recent land mine explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone.
Kang said North Korea appeared to have been “considerably rattled” by Seoul’s response after Pyongyang rejected South Korea’s conclusion that North Korean mines caused the Sept. 21 blast.
He pointed to the fact that Pyongyang waited about a day after Seoul announced the results of its investigation and conducted a mine-clearing operation before issuing a response. Kang also said Seoul was paying attention to the fact that the statement came from North Korea’s Foreign Ministry.
South Korea’s military concluded this week that antipersonnel mines deliberately planted by North Korean troops south of the Military Demarcation Line caused the explosion, which injured three South Korean officers, two of them seriously.
The Defense Ministry told lawmakers Wednesday that it plans to conduct joint investigations with the United Nations Command into North Korean incursions across the MDL, formally identify Armistice Agreement violations and demand that Pyongyang halt such activity and restore affected areas.
The ministry also reiterated plans to seek inter-Korean military talks aimed at preventing accidental clashes, reconciling differing understandings of the MDL and restoring military communication channels.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
