Park Seung-su, a member of the South Korea under-23 men's football squad, poses in a military discharge cap shortly after the team's Asian Games gold medal win. [Park Seung-su SNS]
Park Seung-su, a member of the South Korea under-23 men's football squad, poses in a military discharge cap shortly after the team's Asian Games gold medal win. [Park Seung-su SNS]

All 23 players on South Korea's men's football squad that won gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games are set to receive military service exemptions — including seven who played fewer than 10 minutes and two who never took the field at all. The disparity has reignited a fairness debate and prompted a lawmaker to introduce a bill that would abolish the arts and sports military exemption system entirely.

People Power Party Lawmaker Song Eon-seog's office analyzed data obtained from the Korea Football Association and found that goalkeepers Kim Min-seung and Lee Seung-hwan recorded zero minutes of playing time across the tournament. Goalkeeper Kim Jun-hong started and played the full 90 minutes in all five of the team's matches.

Defenders Park Gyeong-seop and Choi Woo-jin each appeared in one match and played one minute apiece. Kang Min-jun played six minutes in one match, and Park Sung-hoon logged a combined seven minutes across two matches — bringing the total number of players with fewer than 10 minutes of playing time to seven.

Park Seung-su, who drew criticism for wearing a military discharge cap immediately after the final, appeared in three matches for a total of 17 minutes.

Park posted a photo on SNS showing himself wearing the discharge cap with a gold medal around his neck after the final against Japan on Oct. 3, drawing a wave of public criticism.

Under current military regulations, finishing first in a team sport such as football at the Asian Games qualifies every squad member for an exemption regardless of individual playing time.

Previously, a player had to appear in at least one match to be eligible. That requirement was scrapped in 2020 after controversy arose over coaches fielding players for just one minute solely to secure their exemptions. As a result, a player who never set foot on the pitch now receives the same benefit as one who played every minute of every game.

Separately, each of the 23 players is also set to receive a special incentive bonus of 4.5 million won ($3,350) under relevant regulations, for a combined total of 103.5 million won.

Under the Athletes Welfare Act, players who finish first at the Asian Games and whose accumulated performance scores fall below a certain threshold are entitled to the special bonus.

Song said the military exemption for Asian Games gold medalists is "an outdated system out of step with the times that fails to meet public expectations and is fundamentally unfair to young people who faithfully fulfill their military obligations." He added that he would introduce a bill to abolish the arts and sports military exemption system "in order to restore fairness and equity in military service."


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com