Tom Kim: The Korean golfer playing for Olympic medals and military exemption at Paris 2024

Tom Kim has put himself in contention after two rounds of the men’s Olympic golf event in Paris, and the South Korean has more motivation than most to win a medal on Sunday.

Korean law requires young men to perform 18 months of military service, and they must enlist before their 28th birthday. That would mean a long spell away from golf for Kim, one of the rising stars on the PGA Tour who is ranked No 20 in the world.

There are a few ways to evade Korean conscription rules. Wealthy families send their sons to foreign schools to earn dual citizenship. Mental or physical health conditions can earn exemption, and some determined individuals dramatically lose or gain weight in order to fail health checks.

But for athletes, medals matter. A rule introduced in the 1970s to improve Korean performance at the Olympic Games incentivised medals with the promise of exemption. That rule has evolved to include gold at the Asian Games, which the South Korean football team memorably won in 2022 to ensure their greatest player, Tottenham’s Son Heung-min, avoided military service and continued his career in the Premier League.

In the Olympics, any medal will do. Kim insists he is not thinking about military service this week and, at 22, he does have time on his side. He will have chances at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

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But the plight of his countryman Sang-moon Bae offers a cautionary tale. Bae fought conscription on the grounds of his US residency but Korean courts ruled against him, and he put his career on hold to spend more than a year and a half in military service. He was understandably rusty when he returned to the PGA Tour (the Tour held his spot while he was away), and a player who was once in the top 30 in the world has now fallen outside the top 500.

Kim says his story can be different. “Just because it happened to him, doesn’t mean it’s going to happen to other people,” he says of Bae, speaking to The Independent at Le Golf National. “You can’t say [for sure] that it affected him. There could be different things that could have happened.”

Kim’s stance – “we have our service and it is what it is,” he says – is broadly echoed throughout Korean society, although a generational gap is beginning to emerge.

“There are differences in opinion,” a Korean journalist at the Olympics told The Independent. He preferred not to be named in a foreign publication discussing the topic. “Some of the younger generation think it is a bit unfair.”

How do Koreans feel about Kim’s predicament? “It is not yet a big story in Korea but it will be once he approaches 28. It is important for him, it could damage his career.”

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A 23-year-old fan, Gyeongmo Koo, was carrying a Korean flag as he walked around Le Golf National. He said that while very few young men actively want to enrol, they accept it is their duty. “Most of my friends do it because they have to. They fix their life plan and choose the best time to serve.”

But is Kim’s predicament, needing a medal to avoid sacrificing part of what could be a major-winning golf career, really fair? “I think Olympic medals are the best way to give military exemption,” Gyeongmo said. “There can be many other stats for judging players’ skill but it can vary from sport to sport, so Olympic medals is a fair standard. It’s the least worst way.

“If I was Kim it would be very motivating, because a year-and-a-half blank is big. Some sports have military teams [to help maintain levels] but I’ve never heard of a golf team.”

In a week when they don’t play for money, there is more at stake for Kim than the rest of the field. But he trusts that his talent will save the day – perhaps on Sunday. “It doesn’t worry me at all,” Kim adds. “It’s the way our country works. And you know, good golf takes care of everything.”