S. Korean puts on 20 kg in bid to eat his way out of draft

SEOUL — A South Korean man was handed a suspended prison sentence for intentionally gaining weight in a bid to avoid bootcamp and other strenuous activities in military service, a Seoul court told AFP on Tuesday.

All South Korean men under the age of 30 must perform around two years of military service, mainly because the country remains technically at war with nuclear-armed North Korea.

While all able-bodied men must serve in the military, people with health issues may be assigned alternative duties, which can include working in an office for a municipal government.

A 26-year-old man was sentenced earlier this month to one year in prison — suspended for two years — for violating the Military Service Act after deliberately binge-eating to gain weight and be classified as unfit for active duty.

After learning that a body mass index of over 35 could exempt him from standard military assignments, the man started trying to put on weight by following a special regime designed by an acquaintance.

The plan involved doubling his food intake and consuming large amounts of water before medical evaluations.

In 2017, the man was measured at 169 centimetres  tall and weighing 83 kilogrammes.

By 2022, “he weighed 105 kilogrammes, and in 2023 he weighed 102 kilogrammes”, the Seoul Eastern District Court told AFP.

The acquaintance who encouraged him was also convicted of aiding the legal violation and received a six-month prison term, suspended for one year.

The court noted that the “defendant has admitted his wrongdoing and expressed willingness to fulfil his military duty sincerely”.

The Military Manpower Administration maintains a public list of evaders, displaying their names, ages, registered addresses and reasons for avoidance.

In 2023, 355 people evaded mandatory military service illegally, the highest since the public listing began in 2015.

Famous figures have been caught faking illnesses to evade or to be exempted completely from military service, including a high-profile celebrity who was accused of pulling his teeth out.

Last year, Ravi, a rapper of the K-pop group VIXX, received a suspended sentence after falsifying medical documents that he suffered from epilepsy.

He apologised on social media, saying he had made a “foolish decision” because he was “desperate to delay” his military service.