His friend was also convicted for giving him the idea.
According to recent reports, a Korean court has indicted a man in his 20s for evading national service by deliberately gaining weight to avoid the draft.
On Nov. 24, KST, Korean media reported that Seoul’s Eastern Dongbu District Court had sentenced the 26-year-old defendant to one year in prison, suspended for two years, on charges of violating the military service law. This law states that anyone found guilty of evading military enlistment without justifiable cause can be punished with a prison sentence of up to three years.
The young man reportedly deliberately doubled his food intake to gain weight, as exceeding a certain weight limit could void his military obligations. He also drank a large amount of water right before his military draft physical evaluation to further tip the scales. This diet plan was reportedly given to him by a friend who encouraged him to overeat to gain weight.
The friend in question was also found guilty of aiding and abetting despite denying the charges. He was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years.
The defendant was assessed at Level 2 during his initial physical examination in October 2017. Anyone assessed at Level 2 is deemed fit to fight. But in June 2023, in the final physical evaluation, he received a grade 4 rating due to drastically increased weight. He weighed 102.3 kg and was 169 cm tall, with a body mass index of 35.8, well above the demarcation to be considered severely obese. This re-evaluation allowed the defendant to serve in a non-combatant role with a government agency while traveling from home.
During the sentencing, the court found that both the defendant and his friend had no criminal record and, therefore, decided on a lighter punishment for them. The defendant’s recognition of his misdeeds and his promise to perform military service also contributed to pushing the sentence towards leniency.
