Top-Ranking Officials Exempt From Military Duty

The latest government data showed that five ministerial-level and nine vice ministerial-level officials out of 111 such officials in the current administration were exempted from mandatory military service, and three of their children were also exempted from military duty.

The rate of military service completion among ministerial- and vice ministerial-level officials of the Lee Myung-bak administration is 7.4 percent points higher than that of the early period of the Roh Moo-hyun administration, which stood at 80 percent. However, the exemption rate of their children is 1.7 percentage points higher than 9.5 percent of the same period in the Roh administration.

The Military Manpower Administration (MMA) disclosed the details of military service of 1,428 high-ranking officials and their children, including 111 ministerial- and vice ministerial-level officials and 98 of their children on its official publication and Web site (www.mma.go.kr).

According to the MMA, 97 out of 111 top-ranking officials completed their mandatory military service, with 80 of them as active service and 17 as reservist duty, showing 87.4 percent of military service completion rate.

About 11 out of 98 children of top-ranking officials were exempted from military service. In particular, Financial Services Committee Chairman Jun Kwang-woo, Minister of Land, Transport and Marine Affairs Chung Jong-hwan, and Korea Food and Drug Administration President Yoon Yeo-pyo and their sons were all exempted from military service.

Jun is classified as disqualified conscription status in 1971 due to underweight, and his eldest son was removed from the military service registration list in 2003 when he gained U.S. citizenship. Chung was discharged from military service after waiting for enrollment for a long time, while his eldest son was exempted in 1990 after having gastrectomy.

The MMA explained that Yoon was discharged from the service in 1983 for the need of supporting his family, and his second son was classified as disqualified conscription status in 2006 for illness not to be disclosed and exempted from military duty.

The details of individual military service history of high-ranking officials are available on the MMA Web site.

ysh1005@donga.com