In most countries, serving in the military is a choice. However, this wasn’t always the case. Men used to have to serve for a certain time before they could choose to leave the army. There are still some countries, such as South Korea, which have these rules in place. Not everyone wants to serve in the military, and sometimes, they find creative ways to avoid them. Keep on reading to discover how a South Korean man tried to avoid his mandatory service by gaining weight!
The South Korean Man gained more than 20 kilograms!
In South Korea, all able-bodied men have a mandatory military serving period to help strengthen the country’s forces. However, people with disabilities or other health issues will be able to perform social services instead. A 26-year-old South Korean man attempted to outsmart the system by deliberately gaining weight to have “health-problems” to get away with social services.
Over a short period of time, the man chose to gain over 20 kilograms of weight to get out of the tough military duties. The main way he gained the weight was through excessive food consumption. However, to further manipulate the physical exams, he’d drink a lot of water right before the tests.
They weren’t the only ones trying this tactic!
He and his acquaintance almost got away with it, but eventually, they were caught and punished for these actions. Trying to evade military service is seen as a crime, as they have to protect the country against threats from North Korea all the time. Both men got a suspended prison sentence of one year for violating the military service act.
The two men are not the first ones to try to gain weight to avoid their military service. Each year, there are around 50 to 60 reported cases of people trying to gain weight to avoid the services! The ones who get caught will receive different types of sentences!
