Gov't discloses personal info of 256 draft dodgers

SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Yonhap) -- The Military Manpower Administration on Thursday disclosed the personal information of 256 people accused of dodging the mandatory military service.

The move is in accordance with the 2015 revision of the Military Service Act as part of efforts to ensure fairness in the implementation of the compulsory system, according to the manpower agency. The list of dodgers has been disclosed once a year on its website since 2016.

Of the total, 118 had been supposed to serve as active-duty soldiers and 26 as social service workers, while 87 illegally stayed overseas without prior reporting to authorities and 25 failed to get physical checkups for the service, according to the MMA.

The list includes South Korean professional footballer Suk Hyun-jun, who is a member of the second-division club ESTAC Troyes of France.

The agency said that it notified violators of the related facts in March, and gave them six months to explain the reasons for the failure. Then a committee reviewed each case to finalize the list.

The disclosed information includes names, ages, addresses and details about their dodging attempts. When they later serve in the military, the information will be deleted, the agency added.

"We expect the disclosure of the dodgers' information to prevent similar cases and to establish a culture where the draft system is implemented in a fair and right manner," the MMA said in a statement.

All able-bodied South Korean men must carry out compulsory military service for about two years in a country that faces North Korea across a heavily fortified border.

graceoh@yna.co.kr
(END)