”BTS” went to the military, but e-gamers are ”exempted”... ”Unfair special military service” is controversial again = South Korea

In South Korea, a number of athletes who won gold medals at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games have been exempted from enlisting in the military, leading to renewed criticism that the special military service system for artists and athletes is unfair.
It's going up. "It's not fair compared to the entire enlistment of the male idol group BTS, who made an unprecedented contribution to spreading Korean culture and K-pop."
That's what I'm saying. Regarding this, some have pointed out that no matter what kind of system is established, the issue of ``unfairness'' will inevitably stir up controversy, and that ``the ``special exception'' itself should be abolished.''
The six representative members of the Korean e-sports League of Legends (LoL) are the most representative people who will receive special military service through this Asian Games. This tournament is the first time for esports.
It was adopted as an official event for the first time. Instead of serving as active duty soldiers, they serve as art and physical education personnel and can complete their military service by completing three weeks of basic military training and 544 hours of service.
can. Jun JiHoon, a member of the team, said at a press conference, ``Although we have special exemptions for military service, we are grateful that we were lucky enough to be born in an era when we were blessed with such benefits.We respect those who serve in the military.
I hope he has a good time in the military," he said. In the case of physical education, the Military Service Law stipulates that athletes who have achieved results such as ``3rd place or higher in the Olympics'' or ``1st place in the Asian Games'' be transferred to the physical education personnel.
has been established. In the case of art, it is stipulated that those who have achieved results such as ``2nd place or higher in an international art competition'' or ``1st place in a domestic art competition'' will be transferred to the art staff.
However, one of the reasons why esports teams are particularly controversial is that esports is an event that does not fall within the realm of traditional sports.
Some people argue that games are more like popular art than sports. Similarly, ``breaking'', which was adopted as an official event at the Asian Games, is a popular art and physical education sport.
It is controversial at the border. ``The members of BTS, who are world-famous popular artists, were given special exemptions that they could not receive at all, but they were simply added to a sports category.''
"There is a problem with the situation in which people accept it just because they are eligible." These issues are also receiving attention in foreign media. South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong
recently said, ``BTS has created billions of dollars of economic value and helped introduce K-pop to the world, but they were unable to receive special military service,'' and ``Korean e-sports stars are... this time
He won the gold medal at the Asian Games and was automatically exempted from military service.'' Some are pointing out that ``the special provisions for military service that are out of touch with the times should be abolished.'' military service
The special provision was created in 1973 during the Park Chung-hee administration for the purpose of ``promoting national prestige.'' However, the level of national recognition has now reached such an extent that such a purpose is no longer necessary.
It's increasing. Furthermore, it has been pointed out that ``the effect of promoting national prestige through sports events such as the Olympics and Asian Games is not as great as it once was.''