Sons of 16 high-ranking public officials have abandoned their South Korean nationality in an apparent attempt to evade mandatory military service, an opposition lawmaker said Wednesday.

The sons became U.S. or Canadian citizens after giving up their Korean nationality when they were required by law to choose their nationality, Ahn Gyu-baek, a lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party, citing government data.

Their fathers now all serve in the government. They include Yoo Min-bong, senior presidential secretary for state affairs planning and Bae Geung-chan and Lee Dong-hwi, the professors of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, a state-run body meant to upgrade the country's diplomatic workforce.

A spokesman of the prime minister and a senior official of the Bank of Korea, South Korea's central bank, were also included in the list.

Sons of senior officials have often given up their Korean nationality to evade the military duty, a practice that draws public outrage in a country that is technically at war with North Korea.

In South Korea, all able-bodied men are required to serve in the military for about two years.

Over recent decades, some South Korean expectant mothers have traveled to the U.S. to give birth for the purpose of obtaining American passports for their children, which would allow them to be exempt from mandatory military service. (Yonhap News)