Shocking Ways Young Men Try to Avoid Military Service Revealed – Part 2

On May 1, the MMA is introducing a program that automatically searches and classifies information promoting draft evasion. With the introduction of this program, it is expected that real-time automatic search and classification of information promoting draft evasion will be possible, and it will be able to respond to prevent the spread of promotional information actively.

Also, starting July 17, the MMA Special Judicial Police will obtain investigative authority against the poster and distributor of information promoting draft evasion and directly investigate them. In addition, the MMA plans to sign a business agreement with portal companies to delete promotional details quickly.

The punishment for those who post or distribute false and harmful information promoting draft evasion will also be strengthened. From May, if you post or distribute related information online, you will be imprisoned for up to two years or a fine of 20 million won ($14,774).

The MMA established a dedicated cyber investigation organization on December 31 last year and secured investigative authority against the poster and distributor of information promoting draft evasion. In particular, starting July 17 this year, the MMA Special Judicial Police plans to investigate this directly.

The MMA also plans to sign a business agreement with portal companies to ensure the quick deletion of posts confirmed as harmful information and to block the spread of information promoting draft evasion online.

Lee Ki Sik, Commissioner of the MMA, said, “We will continue to strengthen the surveillance network for information promoting draft evasion information and instill the perception that draft evasion crimes can never be committed in our society,” and “Through this, we will do our best to create a fair military service culture that is trusted by the public.”

According to the MMA, 747 draft evaders have been sent to the prosecution by the MMA Special Judicial Police, which was introduced in April 2012, until last year.

By type, intentional weight control was the most common with 176 people, followed by pretending to have a mental disorder (175 people), pretending to have epilepsy (136 people), intentional tattooing (101 people), pretending to have an ophthalmic disease (23 people), and falsifying educational background qualifications (22 people) in that order. 114 people used methods such as pretending to have a hearing impairment, false disability registration, fraudulent welfare benefits, and intentional surgery.

Despite such crackdowns, the methods of promoting draft evasion are becoming increasingly secretive and sophisticated. The market size formed illegally and covertly is also estimated to be considerable.

In particular, the draft evasion promotion activities detected by the MMA reach about 2,000 cases annually. About 40 people are detected and punished every year for dodging or evading military duties. The money handed over to the two brokers by 108 people detected in a joint investigation by the MMA and the prosecution last year exceeds 1.6 billion won ($1.18 million), about 15 million won ($11,090) per person.

To Read Part 1…
To Read Part 3…