A court in South Korea has found a man guilty of trying to avoid mandatory military service by deliberately gaining weight, local media report.
The 26-year-old began binge eating before his physical examination for the draft, a judge in the capital, Seoul, said. He was categorised as obese, allowing him to serve in a non-combat role at a government agency.
The defendant received a one-year suspended sentence. A friend who devised a special regimen that doubled his daily food intake got a six-month suspended sentence, the Korea Herald newspaper reports, external.
Is South Korea involved in any active combat (besides guarding the DMZ)? Or was he trying to avoid the training? I don’t blame him either way, but it seems low reward for the high risk.