South Korea court sentences 22-year-old man to prison for starving himself to avoid military service

A South Korean court has handed a man a two-year suspended prison sentence for deliberately starving himself to evade mandatory military service.

The Gwangju district court ruled that the actions of the unidentified 22-year-old man breached the Military Service Act that requires all able-bodied men to serve at least 18 months in the military.

The defendant initially weighed 54kg in January 2021 but in a bid to avoid mandatory military service, he starved himself and reduced his weight to 49.7kg and maintained a weight of 50.4kg until February 2022.

The man deliberately limited his intake of food and water and went into a calorie deficit between 2021 and 2022, the court was told.

Men in South Korea who are not physically fit to serve in the military are subject to non-combat, alternative service.

The man, however, denied the accusation that he starved himself to remain skinny in a bid to avoid a combative military role. He told the court that he lost weight during the period due to stress resulting from his expulsion from his university and a failure to get into the university he wanted.

Further details regarding the man were not available.

However, the court highlighted that the evidence indicated that the defendant was aware of the military’s physical requirements. Witness testimonies revealed that he consistently spoke of his intentions to shed pounds in order to avoid combat duty.

Moreover, the court noted that urine tests revealed signs of intentional starvation and dehydration, according to The Korea Times, reinforcing the notion that his weight loss was deliberate.

According to South Korea’s Military Service Act, engaging in such deceptive practices to dodge military service could lead to a penalty of up to five years in prison.