A man in his 20s who purposely lost weight to avoid conscription has been given probation.
According to the legal community on the 12th, Gwangju District Court’s Criminal Division 8 (Judge Yong Shin Kim) revealed on the 11th that it had sentenced a man in his 20s to six months in prison with a two-year probation for violating the Military Service Act.
He was brought to trial for intentionally losing weight before his military service physical examination in 2021.
He reduced his weight from 119 pounds in January of 2021 to 108.9 pounds in November of the same year. He maintained this underweight at around 111.1 pounds until the following re-measurement in February 2022.
The investigation revealed that the man had severely limited his food and water intake to serve as a Grade 4 supplementary service, such as a social service agent.
The military service classification is divided into Grade 1-3 active duty soldiers, Grade 4 supplementary service, Grade 5 wartime labor service, Grade 6 military exemption, and Grade 7 physical re-examination.
During the trial, he claimed, “I lost weight due to an irregular lifestyle, stress from being expelled from university, and failing the college entrance exam retake.”
However, the court did not accept his claim. The court stated, “Considering the legally adopted witness’s court testimony, it is recognized that the defendant knew the standards for determining the physical grades. He also repeatedly said that he would ‘cut his weight to be examined for supplementary service.'”
The court also stated, “Looking at the urine test results, it appears that the defendant intended to lose weight through fasting and dehydration. Despite this, he does not regret his actions and continues to evade active duty service, which is a serious criminal offense.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense strengthened the standards for active duty determination last year by revising the military service physical examination rules. The standard for Grade 4 supplementary service, which was “Underweight with a BMI (Body Mass Index, value obtained by dividing weight by the height squared) less than 16” or “Severely obese with a BMI of 35 or more,” was changed to “Underweight with a BMI less than 15”, or “Extremely obese with a BMI of 40 or more.”
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