Army to end exemption for severely obese men

The Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday that it would revise criteria exempting men with weight issues, allowing the enlistment of severely obese men for mandatory military service.

The proposed change will lower the bottom threshold from the current BMI of 16 to 15 while raising the upper limit from the current 35 to 40. Therefore, the number of those who are underweight and overweight who can join the Army as active duty soldiers will increase.

In general, a BMI of 18.4 or less is considered underweight, while a BMI of 30 to 34.9 is considered obese, 35 to 39.9 as very obese and 40 or more as severely obese.

Ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyu stated that the change was not made explicitly to increase the number of conscriptions, but because it wouldn't interfere with the fulfillment of mandatory service obligations under the proposed thresholds.