South Korean men between the age of 18 and 35 are required by law to serve in the country’s military — or civilian service equivalent — for approximately a year and a half.
The policy, enacted in 1957 for able-bodied males, has remained in effect while the nation continues what is technically a war with its neighbor to the north.
But for one man, exemption loopholes in the able-bodied requirements were taken to heart — and midsection — after he reportedly embarked on a multiyear binge-eating bonanza, gaining more than 44 pounds in an attempt to evade assignments traditionally reserved for one less corpulent.
And it worked, sort of.
Instead of immediate military service, the 26-year-old nearly joined the ranks of prison inmates after the Seoul Eastern District Court sentenced him to a suspended one-year term for violating the country’s service requirements.
The 5′6″ individual, who reportedly weighed 183 pounds during a 2017 physical examination, doubled his eating regimen at the behest of a friend, who advised the calorie crusader that he could instead fulfill his conscription duties in a relaxed civilian role, such as working at a community service center.
The portly plot was a go, with the man going as far as quitting his job as a delivery worker, according to the court, simply unwilling to sacrifice precious calories to the arduousness of moving one’s body.
In 2023, the man underwent another physical exam, reportedly after chugging water to tip the literal scales even more in his favor. He weighed in at just over 230 pounds.
(It’s worth noting that a strict diet of MREs could have netted these gains in one or two months instead of six years.)
The report did not specify how the individual was caught.
Military conscription, meanwhile, remains a hot-button topic in South Korea, where service often puts an unwelcome pause on professional or academic pursuits.
South Korea’s Military Manpower Administration reports an annual average of 50 to 60 cases of military exemptions or blatant dodging of military service.
Few, however, are exempt if fit to serve. All seven members of the wildly popular K-pop supergroup BTS, for instance, have donned their nation’s uniform, with the last members of the group slated to finish serving in June 2025.
The court overseeing the binge-eating case noted that the culprit vowed to fulfill his service.
For his advisory role in the scheme, the friend, also 26, similarly received a suspended one-year sentence.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jon Simkins is the executive editor for Military Times and Defense News, and a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War.
