In South Korea, men who win Olympic medals do not have to participate in the two year long mandatory military service.
Current conscription laws stipulate that athletes who win medals in the Olympic Games or gold medals in the Asian Games are granted exemptions but still required to do four weeks of basic training.[1] In 2011, the Military Manpower Administration proposed amendments to the exemptions: to include men who have not completed middle school, and to change to a points-based system on a prescribed scale for athletes who win in prestigious competitions. This is partly to address criticism for the easy exemptions and to recognise the privilege to those who show steady performance.[7]Notable athletes who have been granted exemptions are the bronze medal winning football team of 2012 Summer Olympics[8][9] and swimmer Park Tae-hwan, who reported for four weeks of basic training on 4 October 2012,[10] and was discharged on 31 October from boot camp in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province.[11] Also, tennis player Hyeon Chung has been granted 4 weeks basic training for his win in the 2014 Asian Games.[12]
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