List of 213 Suspected of Evasion of Military Service

It was confirmed on September 4, 2002, that the Military Prosecutors’ Office (MPO) made, during its first investigation of the military evasions in March of 1999, a list containing 213 luminaries including politicians and entrepreneurs who were suspected of evasion of military service. The list at issue was an additional one to the already known list of 55 celebrities. One Ministry of Defense legal official Kim Chang-hae disclosed in a press conference, “Recently in the process of organizing the record room of the MPO, the list of 213 suspected of the evasion was discovered. Apart from this, we have retained a list of 55. The list was made in June of 1999, but it is not verifiable who prepared it.”

He added, “The title is ‘List of Luminaries.’ Out of the 213 people suspected, 154 entries contain the names of, for example, soccer and baseball athletes and their grades received. And the rest 59 entries are for the social big shots like politicians and entrepreneurs. Especially, about 10 politicians are included.”

He explained, “Other than 4-5 people overlapped in the two lists, the people on the new list are different from those on the list of 55.”

He confirmed, “Lee Chong-hyun, the son of Grand National Party’s Presidential Candidate Lee Hui-chang, is not listed.” But he refused to reveal the names on the list.

Ministry of Defense officially confirmed the refusal by Military Manpower Administration (MMA) to submit the records on Lee Chong-hyun. The refusal was made in MMA’s answer to the Aug. 29th request of Grand National Party’s Congressman Park Sea-hwan, who is on a congressional committee in charge of monitoring the Ministry. In the answer, according to the Ministry, it became known that the MMA’s Seoul Office had declined the request of the MPO in September of 1998 for the submission of the medical reports on Chong-hyun.

On August 22, the Ministry has denied of the existence of any list other than the list of 55 made by Major Lee Myung-hyun. Lee headed the Investigation Team 1 (Dec. 1998 to Apr. 1999).

Sang-Ho Yun ysh1005@donga.com