"Now You're Telling Me to Serve in the Military?"... After 14 Years in Prison and a Lawsuit, Turns Out He Was Deported from the U.S.

Military Manpower Administration: "No reduction for prisoners sentenced abroad"
Court: "May qualify if the offense is a crime under South Korean law"

A man who was deported to South Korea after serving 14 years in prison for robbery in the United States sued the Military Manpower Administration after it imposed military service obligations on him, and won. The court ruled that even if someone was sentenced to prison and served time abroad, they may qualify for exemption from military service if the offense also constitutes a crime under South Korean law.

According to Yonhap News Agency and legal sources on October 10, the Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 2, presided over by Judge Gong Hyeonjin, recently ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by A against the head of the Seoul Regional Military Manpower Administration, seeking to overturn the denial of his request for assignment to the wartime labor service reserve.

A view of the Seoul Administrative Court

A was born in South Korea and moved to the United States with his family, where he obtained permanent residency. In 2010, he was sentenced to prison in the United States for robbery and aggravated assault, and was released upon completing his 14-year sentence in 2025.

After being deported from the United States and returning to South Korea, A received a Grade 3 physical classification in his military service examination and was designated for call-up as a social service personnel member. Claiming that he qualified as a convicted prisoner, A applied for assignment to the wartime labor service reserve. This is a military service classification under which a person does not serve on active duty or as a social service personnel member but may be mobilized for military support work when necessary during wartime or other national emergencies.

However, the Seoul Regional Military Manpower Administration rejected his application, saying that "among people sentenced abroad, only prisoners transferred to South Korea to serve their sentences are eligible for a reduction in military service obligations." A filed a lawsuit, arguing that the Military Service Act and its Enforcement Decree designate as eligible for assignment to the wartime labor service reserve "people who, as convicted prisoners, have been sentenced to at least one year and six months of imprisonment or confinement without suspension."

The court ruled in A's favor.

The panel explained that the term "convicted prisoner" under the Military Service Act should be interpreted to include "a person sentenced abroad to a custodial term of at least one year and six months for conduct that constitutes a crime under the laws of the Republic of Korea." As grounds for its ruling, the panel noted that the Military Service Act does not stipulate that the prison sentence must be imposed "in South Korea," and that the purpose of excluding convicted prisoners from active duty is to maintain discipline and prevent a decline in the quality of military personnel.

However, the panel said, "If custodial sentences imposed abroad were recognized without limitation, there would be a risk that this could be abused as a means of evading military service obligations." It added that, "in light of the Act on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, the person must have been sentenced to a custodial term for conduct that also constitutes a crime under South Korean law." In A's case, the panel explained that he had committed a crime by carrying a weapon and assaulting and threatening a victim to take property, conduct that would constitute either special robbery or robbery resulting in injury or bodily harm under South Korean law.

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