Military Manpower Administration to Tighten Arts Military Service Exemption Criteria

Report to National Assembly Defense Committee During Parliamentary Audit

Yonhap News Agency

The government is pursuing a plan to raise the ranking required for exemption from military service through awards at international arts competitions from second place to first place.

At a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's National Defense Committee on October 12, the Military Manpower Administration reported that it would "strengthen the eligibility criteria in light of changes in the country's international standing and fairness in military service." It also plans to combine categories at domestic traditional arts competitions and reduce the number of participants eligible for military service exemptions from two or three per competition to one.

The Military Manpower Administration also noted that 86.6% of those admitted to the arts and sports service program over the past five years had won awards at domestic competitions. It said it would pursue a revamp of the international arts competitions recognized for exemption, focusing on prestigious events.

Regarding the special military service system for athletes, which has come under fire over the inappropriate conduct of athletes competing at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, the administration said it would "revise the eligibility criteria in consideration of social acceptance, among other factors" and "devise measures to enhance the social role of public service by making use of each individual's area of expertise."

The Military Manpower Administration added that it would revise its directives by December this year after consulting with relevant agencies, and continue to improve the system based on the results of ongoing policy research. The research commissioned by the administration to improve the relevant system is expected to be completed around mid-November.

Meanwhile, People Power Party Rep. Lim Jong-deuk said, "Five of the eight types of special military service programs have fallen short of their quotas for five consecutive years." Most of the eight special military service programs currently in operation have failed to fill their allocated positions.

An analysis of data submitted by the Ministry of National Defense by Rep. Lim Jong-deuk of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, found that five types of special military service programs - industrial technical personnel, specialist research personnel, public health doctors, maritime reserve personnel, and public-service legal officers - had failed to meet their quotas even once in the five years since 2021.

The current special military service system consists of eight programs: specialist research personnel, industrial technical personnel, maritime reserve personnel, public health doctors, military service examination doctors, public-service legal officers, veterinary officers for public disease control, and arts and sports personnel. The arts and sports personnel program, in which participants are selected based on rankings at international sports competitions and fine arts contests, among other events, has no separately defined quota.

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