40% of Male Minister-level Officials Exempt from Military Service

Forty percent of male minister-level officials in the Roh Moo-hyun administration were exempted from compulsory military service due to health problems or other reasons.

According to data on the military records of vice minister-level or higher officials released on Thursday by the Military Manpower Administration (MMA), out of the total 90 male vice minister-level or higher public officials, 72 (80 %) completed their military service while 18 (20%) were found exempt.

In particular, the exemption rate was very high among the 25 male ministers; this is 40%, higher than the Kim De-jung administration’s 30.8%.

The MMA says that those who were born in the 1940s like most of the incumbent vice ministers or ministers show an average exemption rate of 38.5%.

Meanwhile, the total number of those high-ranking public servants’ sons numbers 89; out of whom five have yet to receive a physical check-up. Seventy-six men among the other 84 completed their military duty or are awaiting enlistment. Only eight (9.5%) were exempted from the draft.

An official with the MMA said that the rate of vice minister-level or higher officials completing their military duty under the Roh Moo-hyun government is 3.6% higher than that at the start of the Kim Dae-jung government (76.4%). The exemption rate among those high-ranking officials’ sons now is 2.9% lower than the Kim administration’s 12.4%.

Starting in 1999, the MMA has disclosed the military records of high-ranking public officials and elected lawmakers and individuals’ military records. The now-public records can be found on the agency’s website, www.mma.go.kr.

Sang-Ho Yun ysh1005@donga.com