Presidential Candidates Lee Jae-myung, Kim Kyung-soo, Kim Moon-soo with Military Exemptions... Examining the Reasons [Presidential Candidates and Military Service][AK Radio]

Ahn Cheol-soo Discharged as Navy Captain, Han Dong-hoon as Air Force Captain
Kwon Young-guk and Lee Jun-seok Completed Service as Industrial Technical Personnel
Kim Dong-yeon and Hong Joon-pyo Served as Supplementary Service Members (Defense)

Editor's NoteThe presidential election has entered full swing. The People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea have completed candidate registration and started their primaries. The People Power Party will decide its candidate on May 3, and the Democratic Party, which has already begun regional primaries starting in the Chungcheong area, will decide its candidate as early as the 27th of this month. Following 'Presidential Candidates and Religion,' we have looked into 'Presidential Candidates and Military Service.'

Except for female candidates who are exempt from military service (Na Kyung-won and Yang Hyang-ja), the presidential candidates have various military ranks: Captain (Ahn Cheol-soo and Han Dong-hoon), First Lieutenant (Yoo Jeong-bok), Army Corporal (Lee Cheol-woo), and Supplementary Service (Kim Dong-yeon and Hong Joon-pyo). There is also a candidate who completed military service through a special military service system (Lee Jun-seok). Three candidates?Kim Kyung-soo, Kim Moon-soo, and Lee Jae-myung?were exempted from service. Among the Justice Party presidential candidates, Kwon Young-guk, who declared his candidacy on the 16th, completed military service through special military service. The exact facts regarding Han Sang-gyun, head of the Labor Class Party Promotion Committee, have not been confirmed.

Former Gyeongnam Governor Kim Kyung-soo underwent a military physical examination on November 6, 1987, while studying anthropology at Seoul National University. He was exempted from military service after being classified as Grade 5, Second Class National Service due to 'proximal interphalangeal joint stiffness' caused by a finger reattachment surgery on his left index finger. During his university years, he worked at an auto parts manufacturing factory in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, as part of labor activism, where his finger was caught in machinery, leading to his exemption from military service.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon completed his military service as a supplementary service member. He was classified as a defense service member due to severe myopia. He enlisted on March 11, 1978, served for 14 months at the Taepyeong 2-dong Office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and was discharged in May 1979. There were allegations that he manipulated his vision test to avoid active duty enlistment. Although he was assigned to supplementary service due to moderate myopia with 0.04 vision in both eyes at the time of the military examination, some claimed that years later, his civil servant physical examination records showed vision of 0.3 in the left eye and 0.2 in the right eye.

At the time, Governor Kim's side completely denied the allegations. They explained that the first vision test result was below 0.6, leading to a second detailed examination by a military doctor, resulting in a final Grade 3 classification. They also emphasized that the vision test for civil servant physical exams was a visual inspection, whereas the military vision test was a precise examination conducted by a military doctor. Being from a 'dirt spoon' background, he had neither the power nor evidence to manipulate his vision or influence military doctors.

Former Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Moon-soo was exempted from military service in 1971 due to otitis media. In 2006, Heo Dong-jun, deputy spokesperson of the Uri Party, raised suspicions of draft evasion, saying, "If he was exempted due to otitis media, the aftereffects would be significant, but I have never heard that he wears a hearing aid." In response, Kim's side at the time dismissed it as "not worth responding to." They stated, "He was forcibly conscripted by the National Security Command agents. While suffering from typhoid fever and near death, his otitis media, which he had since middle school, worsened, and he was exempted from conscription at the National Military Integrated Hospital."

Assemblyman Ahn Cheol-soo served as a naval medical officer for 39 months from February 6, 1991, to April 1994. During the first year, he served as a diving physiology officer at the Naval Maritime Medical Aptitude Training Center in Jinhae, Gyeongnam (now the Maritime Medical Support Center). During that time, he went home in Seoul almost every weekend. For the remaining two years, he worked as a preventive medicine officer at the Seoul Armed Forces Medical Command, commuting daily from home. The 1995 publication 'The Eccentric Computer Doctor Ahn Cheol-soo' includes a passage: "The 39 months of military service were a significant blank period for me. The place I was assigned to did not allow medical research or computer work. It was a tremendous torment for me."

Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok was commissioned as an Army Infantry Second Lieutenant on September 19, 1981, as part of the first class of bachelor's degree officers. He served at the 21st Infantry Division in Yanggu, Gangwon Province. He became a symbolic figure of bachelor's degree officers, serving as president of the Army Bachelor's Degree Officers Alumni Association. After passing the 23rd Administrative Examination in 1979, Mayor Yoo was discharged as a First Lieutenant on September 30, 1984, and began his public service career at the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs.

A photo of former leader Lee Jae-myung's arm released in 2021. Photo by Lee Jae-myung SNS

Former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was exempted from military service after being diagnosed with a Grade 6 disability. As a youth, while working in a factory, his left wrist's outer side was caught in a press machine, resulting in a wrist joint fracture, which led to the disability rating. At the time, he thought it was not a big problem and did not receive proper treatment, fearing that people around him would criticize him for complaining about pain. This is why Lee still dislikes the attention posture and holds the microphone only with his bent left hand. When taking a full-body photo in the attention posture, the bent left arm is visible. On July 17, 2021, he shared a photo of his twisted arm on social media.

Reform Party Assemblyman Lee Jun-seok completed military service through the industrial technical personnel special service system. In 2010, while serving as an industrial technical personnel, he applied for and passed the first selection process of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy's 'Software (SW) Maestro' program. Democratic Party Assemblyman Kim Yong-min raised suspicions of preferential treatment in the selection process. However, Lee dismissed the allegations by releasing his trainee selection application and information processing engineer certificate, and Hwang Dae-san, the selection committee chairman at the time, also denied the allegations. Hwang stated, "It is a program intended to select, support, and nurture excellent software talents. Except for current industry workers, anyone can apply without restrictions," emphasizing that there was no preferential treatment. The controversy was thus settled. In November 2015, Lee appeared on JTBC's 'Ssulzun' and said, "While working at a company with special military service, I installed CCTV in a casino."

Gyeongbuk Governor Lee Cheol-woo enlisted in the Army on May 19, 1978, and served as an intelligence soldier (combat intelligence specialty) at the 5th Military District Command in Daegu. He was discharged as a corporal on August 14, 1980.

Former Representative Han Dong-hoon was commissioned as an Air Force Judge Advocate on May 1, 1998, after completing the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and served at the 18th Fighter Wing in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. He served for three years and was discharged as a captain on April 30, 2001. During his time as a judge advocate, he investigated and arrested a colonel-level officer in his unit on bribery charges. It is said that the prosecution took notice of him from that time. It is also known that Han experienced a sad event during his military service. He once revealed, "One of my college friends serving as a military judge advocate died. It was May, and after drinking with unit colleagues, he fell asleep in front of the barracks door around 3 a.m. and was found dead in the morning. It had rained, and he died of hypothermia within a few hours."

Former Mayor Hong Joon-pyo during his service as a defense soldier in Buan, Jeonbuk. Photo by Former Mayor Hong's office

Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo was classified as supplementary service (defense) due to low body weight and myopia and completed military service for one year and six months in Buan, Jeonbuk, where his spouse Lee Soon-sam was born. His 2005 book 'I Want to Go Back' includes related stories: "When I took the physical exam in my senior year of college, I weighed 48 kg. Due to myopia and medical history, I was assigned to supplementary service for 14 months instead of active duty. I disliked breaking up with my girlfriend and stopping my civil service exam studies. My two sons thought their father passed the civil service exam and was discharged as a judge advocate but were very disappointed to learn he was a supplementary service member. Although it was legal, I felt sorry and ashamed to be a supplementary service member while working in public office." In a May 2005 interview with JoongAng Ilbo, Hong said, "If I could go back to those days, I would volunteer for the Marine Corps and complete my military service honorably. My two sons volunteered for the police and the Marine Corps. They are making up for their father's shortcomings."