Hong Joonpyo: "Debating Whether to Keep Military Exemptions Over a Young Player's Remark... Pathetic Politics"

"A system designed to motivate amateur athletes"
"Athletes who have brought honor to the country turned into targets of criticism"

Calls are growing to abolish the alternative service system for arts and sports personnel, following controversy over remarks related to military service exemptions by some members of the national soccer team who won gold at the Asian Games. Amid the debate, Hong Joonpyo, former mayor of Daegu, sharply criticized the remarks, calling them “pathetic.”

In a post on his social media account on October 8, Hong said, “The political world’s outrage over a single remark by an immature young player gives us a glimpse of the state of Korean politics.”

He went on to say, “It has been years since winning an Asian Games gold medal became grounds for exemption from military service, so why all the fuss now?” He added, “It is truly pathetic that the Korean political establishment is debating whether to abolish a system created to motivate amateur sports over a single remark by an immature young player.”

Hong Joonpyo, former Daegu mayor. Yonhap News

Hong also criticized the debate over declining military manpower, saying, “It is absurd to bring up the era of shrinking military resources. The Ministry of National Defense should focus on responding firmly to incidents such as landmine incidents along the truce line.” He added, “How many gold medalists are there that you would turn athletes who have brought honor to the country into targets of criticism?” and strongly condemned the critics, saying, “There is no one more populist.”

He continued, “The country is heading toward dictatorship as the system of separation of powers is being shaken, and that is all they can come up with at a parliamentary audit?”

Earlier, some members of the national soccer team came under fire for remarks related to military service exemptions shortly after winning the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and taking gold medals. The players who made the remarks apologized one after another as criticism mounted, but the controversy has yet to die down.

In connection with the issue, Joo Ho-young, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, sponsored a partial amendment to the Military Service Act that would abolish the criteria for granting alternative service status to arts and sports personnel who place first at the Asian Games.

Park Seungsoo, a member of South Korea's Asian Games soccer team, shared this photo on social media showing him wearing a military discharge cap after winning the gold medal at the Asian Games on the 4th. Screenshot from Park Seungsoo's Instagram.

The current Military Service Act allows people with special skills in the arts or sports who meet requirements set by presidential decree to be assigned as arts and sports personnel. For sports, the enforcement decree specifies third-place finishers at the Olympic Games and first-place finishers at the Asian Games as eligible.

Joo said, “International competitiveness and the level of participating countries vary greatly by sport, so we need to reconsider whether it is fair to apply the same standard of an Asian Games gold medal across the board.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.