"Asian Games military service exemption, abolish it immediately," "It should apply to this tournament as well"... Disciplinary action formalized, 'situation is grave'

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The atmosphere is tense. The controversy over military service exemptions for Asian Games athletes has expanded beyond the government ministry's policy to abolish the system, escalating into a phase of disciplinary action against individual players, with the impact growing uncontrollably.

At the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee's state audit on the 21st, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Im Oh-kyung, a former national handball team member, strongly criticized Korean Olympic Committee President Yoo Seong-min and Korea Sports Promotion Foundation CEO Ha Hyeong-joo over the controversy regarding military service exemptions for professional athletes that arose at this year's 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Im Oh-kyung pressed, "Mr. Ha Hyeong-joo, I believe the sportsmanship shown at this Asian Games was the worst of the worst. Do you acknowledge it?" to which Ha Hyeong-joo replied with a stern expression, "Yes," bowing his head.

Following this, Im Oh-kyung questioned Ha Hyeong-joo, a 1984 Los Angeles Olympics judo gold medalist, and Yoo Seong-min, a 2004 Athens Olympics table tennis gold medalist, asking, "Did you train with the goal of obtaining military service exemption when you started sports or participated in the Olympics or Asian Games?" When both answered, "Not at all," Im Oh-kyung struck directly, stating, "However, seeing professional athletes participate for personal gain at this Asian Games, and thinking about amateur athletes who shed tears of blood training since childhood to break through domestic competition and wear the Taeguk mark, my heart was torn."

The real names of those who triggered the controversy were also directly mentioned in the state audit venue. Im Oh-kyung shouted, "What is the crime of amateur athletes whose dream is to wear the Taeguk mark once and enter the Jangcheon National Training Center?" adding, "There was Yang Min-hyuk's interview, Park Seung-soo posting a photo wearing a discharge cap on SNS, Lee Ki-hyuk mentioning military service exemption, and even professional baseball players suffering a complete defeat to Japanese amateur club teams."

Previously, some national football team members sparked public outrage by making statements such as "We won't go to the army" and "I played only for one thing: military service exemption" through the mixed zone and SNS immediately after winning gold medals. Foreign media outlets, including the UK's 'The Telegraph' and Japan's 'Ronsport,' also reported critically on this.

Im Oh-kyung demanded fundamental reform of the system. Im Oh-kyung argued, "Military service exemption for the Asian Games must be abolished going forward. Asian Games where professional athletes participate should rather be handed over to second or third divisions." In response, Ha Hyeong-joo answered, "We are reviewing it from multiple angles. The voices of amateur athletes who sweat blood due to the attitudes of some professional athletes should also be reflected, and appropriate revisions must be made," while adding, "However, we need to approach carefully the part where the qualifications of amateur athletes are stripped away because of some professional athletes."

Post-event sanctions at the level of the sports committee were also formalized. When Im Oh-kyung strongly urged, "There must be a strict procedure for the sports that caused problems. It is not too late now, so the sports committee should hold an ethics committee and proceed with disciplinary procedures against the relevant sports organizations and athletes," Ha Hyeong-joo promised to initiate official disciplinary procedures, saying, "Yes, we will do so."

In a situation where government ministries are already making unified voices aiming for the abolition of the system, this state audit inquiry is further fueling the controversy over military service exemptions. Previously, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young and Ministry of National Defense Minister Kang Shin-cheol stated, "We will proceed in the direction of reducing military service exemptions and ultimately abolishing them," and Military Manpower Administration Director Hong So-young also expressed agreement with the Ministry of National Defense's policy.

Even People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo claimed through personal SNS that "The time has come to abolish 'gold medal military service exemption' for the Asian Games" and "We should consider abolishing the exemption privilege starting from this Asian Games."

With the sports committee also declaring the initiation of ethics committee disciplinary procedures against athletes who damaged sportsmanship, the aftermath surrounding the athletes participating in this Asian Games is expected to expand beyond a simple controversy over the existence or abolition of the system, potentially leading to actual heavy sanctions and the stripping of exemption qualifications.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original