South Korea soccer players’ boasts spark rethink of military service exemptions

Seoul – For South Korea’s gold medal-winning soccer players, victory at the Asian Games came with a reward beyond sporting glory: exemption from mandatory military service. But the way some players celebrated that benefit has sparked a public backlash, prompting Seoul to reconsider a decades-old system originally designed to reward athletes for bringing prestige to the nation. The controversy erupted after Asian Games football captain Lee Gi-hyuk proclaimed with a smile, “I’m not going to the military,” after beating hosts Japan in the men’s final this month.