Military exemption, irresistible perk for young Korean male Olympians

The South Korean duo of Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon took the bronze medal in the mixed doubles table tennis event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, ending the country's 12-year Olympic table tennis medal drought.

The win over Hong Kong not only extended the medal streak for the Koreans but also had a personal significance for 27-year-old Lim, who will now be exempted from his mandatory military service that was to commence next month.

"I tried to think of it (bronze medal match) as just one game, but I did feel the weight of it. I'd be lying if I wasn't thinking of (the military service)," Lim said after the win. "(Teammate) Jang Woo-jin even told me I wouldn't be human if I didn't think about the military."

Jang had already served his mandatary period as a member of the military-operated Sangmu Table Tennis Club, a fate that awaited Lim if he failed to win a medal in the French capital. Instead of serving 18 months with the military, Lim is now free to be a full-time athlete or coach of his sport.

As South Korea is technically still at war with North Korea -- a peace treaty was never signed for the 1950-53 Korean War, but the two sides reached an armistice -- all able-bodied men are mandated to serve between 18 and 21 months in the military. The military has sports teams where a few select athlete soldiers can spend most of their time playing their sport. But having a huge chunk of one's career limited at a young age is still a considerable burden for Korean athletes.

"To be honest, I think it's thanks to (Shin) Yu-bin that we won. I keep telling her how thankful I am," Lim said jokingly, referring to her much younger teammate who had already won a gold medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.

If it was Lim, a first-time Olympian, that became a champion of the Asian Games, he would not have had to worry about his pending military duties in Paris.

Military 'exemption'

South Korea's military grants benefits to athletes and artists for outstanding feats in their respective fields, including the de facto military service exemption for those who win a gold medal in the Asian Games and a medal of any color in the Olympics.

Technically, they are not exactly exempt from the service itself but are incorporated in the Art and Sports Personnel force for 34 months. After four weeks of basic combat training, they are required to work in their respective fields for the service period and are discharged afterward.

Former MLB All-Star Choo Shin-soo, for example, qualified for the benefits after winning the gold at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. While he spent the subsequent two years in the US playing professionally for the team now known as the Cleveland Guardians, he was still considered a member of the South Korean military.

During the service period, one must hold a job in their particular field. If an athlete retires or is released by his team, he can retain his benefits by moving to another job like coaching, not necessarily at a pro or even a competitive level.

This sparked an internet meme of "exemption-roid (exemption+steriod)," likening the superb performance of a national team athlete during crucial events for military benefits to that of an athlete juiced up by illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Choo in the 2010 tournament went on a tear by hitting .571 (8-for-14) with three home runs while recording 11 RBI, eight runs, three steals, and 10 walks with an on-base percentage of .750.

If Choo had not won the gold medal in 2010, it would not have been possible for him to continue playing professionally in the US as a South Korean citizen. As such, even the Cleveland fans were keeping a keen eye on the Asian Games, an event that is not typically covered extensively in the US media.

But since 2010, Choo has been subject to criticism from Korean fans for repeatedly refusing to play for the national team. He has said it was to recover from recurring injuries, which have hampered his post-2010 career significantly. The fans, however, accuse him of dodging what they believe to be his duties, urging arguably one of the best Korean players of all time to suit up for the national team.

Choo was then compared to other players who played for the national team after being exempted themselves.

Park Chan-ho, the winningest Asian pitcher in MLB history, donned the national team uniform until 2007, nearly a decade after winning the gold in the 1998 Asian Games. This earned him the affectionate nickname "legitimate military exemption broker," indicating he helped his younger teammates get military benefits from major sports events.

Soccer superstar Son Heung-min has also been a committed member of the men's national team, leading the team as the captain years after winning the military benefits in 2018.

The system has also sparked controversies over the years, the biggest of which was over fairness. Athletes and artists in classical or traditional Korean music can apply to become Art and Sports Personnel, but no such benefit exists for pop music artists.

Fans of the internationally popular K-pop band BTS were outraged when the boyband was forced into taking a hiatus due to the members' mandatory military service. As of July, only Jin has been discharged from the military, with the remaining six members still serving.

Who else received military benefits in Paris?

The shooter pair of Park Ha-jun and Keum Ji-hyeon came up short of gold in the 10-meter air rifle mixed team competition on Saturday, but the silver medal meant that 24-year-old Park will not have to worry about a career gap due to military service. He was supposed to enlist in March of next year, but the win means he gets to stay with his current team.

The men's archery team notched a third straight gold medal in the team event, meaning the 20-year-old Kim Je-deok is now eligible for an Art and Sports Personnel post. For his older teammates, Kim Woo-jin already got the benefits as a high-schooler back in 2010, and Lee Woo-seok completed his mandatory duties in 2019.

Gold-medalist fencer Oh Sang-uk had already received military benefits with his past Asian Game gold, as did bronze-medalist swimmer Kim Woo-min.