Baseball Player Park Hyojun Listed as Draft Dodger

Military Manpower Administration Publishes Names of 422 Draft Evaders from Last Year

Last year, the personal information, including names and addresses, of 422 individuals who evaded military service obligations was disclosed.

Baseball player Park Hyojun

According to the Military Manpower Administration on the 19th, baseball player Park Hyo-jun (28) was also listed as a military service evader for 'failure to return within the permitted period.' Park Hyo-jun, who signed with the New York Yankees in 2014 and has been playing in the U.S. professional baseball league, was reported to the Seoul Regional Military Manpower Administration last March for violating the Military Service Act by exceeding the 'overseas travel permission period.'

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered a passport surrender order to Park Hyo-jun, who is currently contesting the order through legal proceedings.

The Military Manpower Administration explained that it urged those subject to disclosure to fulfill their military obligations for six months after prior notification in March, provided an opportunity to explain, and finalized the list of individuals to be disclosed after a review by the Military Service Evasion Disclosure Deliberation Committee. If a disclosed evader subsequently fulfills their military service, such as enlistment, their name will be removed from the public list.

The disclosed information includes six items: the evader’s name, age, address, date of evasion, reason for evasion, and the violated legal provisions. The disclosed individuals are those who evaded military service from January 1 to December 31 of last year and have not yet fulfilled their obligations. This includes 147 who evaded active duty enlistment, 41 who evaded social service personnel summons, 1 who evaded alternative service summons, 31 who evaded military physical examination, and 202 who violated overseas travel permission obligations.

A Military Manpower Administration official stated, "By disclosing the personal information of military service evaders, we aim to promote a culture of faithfully fulfilling military duties."