The man was assessed as grade 4 when he weighed in at 102kg in the final physical examination in June 2023. - PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: PEXELS
SEOUL (The Korea Herald/ANN): A 26-year-old South Korean man was found guilty of evading national service after he deliberately gained weight to avoid serving in the military.
Seoul Eastern Dongbu District Court recently sentenced the man to a year in prison for violating the Military Service Act.
The man gained weight by doubling his daily food intake and drinking a large amount of water just before his physical examination to enter the military.
He followed a weight-gain regimen cooked up by his friend.
The friend, who was sentenced to six months in prison, denied the accusation.
He claimed he never thought the 26-year-old man would go through with it.
The man was assessed as grade 2 in his initial physical examination in October 2017, the second-highest grade, which qualified him to serve in a combat role.
But he was given grade 4 when he weighed in at 102kg in the final examination in June 2023.
At 169cm tall, he had a body mass index of 35.8, making him heavily obese.
This allowed him to serve in a non-combat role at a government agency while commuting from home.
South Korea requires all able-bodied men to serve in the military for at least 18 months.
The court said it decided on relatively lenient punishments for the duo as they have no previous criminal convictions and the defendant acknowledged his wrongdoing and vowed to sincerely serve his military duty. - THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
