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South Korea will publicize the names and faces of military draft dodgers online, parliamentary officials said Wednesday, following the passage of a new law aiming to curb service evasion in a country that is technically still at war with North Korea.
The South requires all able-bodied males to serve in the military for 21 months. But approximately 1,000 evade the draft annually, according to the Military Manpower Administration. The number includes those refusing to serve on religious grounds.
The new decree will try to lower that number, by toughening the penalty for avoiding the draft. The bill was passed in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The law is expected to come into effect by at least late next year according to an aide to governing Saenuri Party Rep. Song Young-keun, after the military finalizes details of how the new rules will be enforced. Song is one of the chief writers of the law.
“The names and faces of conscientious objectors opting to serve prison terms instead of serving in the military will be initially publicized online,” an MMA spokesman said.
Whether their names would be taken off after serving jail time is unclear, he added, although it was likely that officials would remove them after they finished their sentences.
“There will also be a committee to check the identities of those accused of draft evasion, to prevent any misunderstanding,” a parliamentary official said.
Critics had raised fears that documentation errors could wrongfully designate as a draft dodger an individual who had already done his time in the military, or had not yet served due to personal circumstances.
“The panel will try to minimize human errors so that we don’t embarrass the wrong people,” the official added.
North and South Korea have been at war after a cease-fire agreement, and not a peace treaty, ended the Korean War in 1953. Border clashes have led to the deaths of hundreds since.
Recent skirmishes include the sinking of a South Korean naval ship Cheonan in March 2010 by a North Korean sub. The incident left 46 South Korean sailors dead. In November 2010, North Korea shelled Yeonpyeongdo Island, held by the South but located in the West Sea near the inter-Korean border. Two South Korean marines and two civilians were killed.
By Jeong Hunny (hj257@heraldcorp.com)
The South requires all able-bodied males to serve in the military for 21 months. But approximately 1,000 evade the draft annually, according to the Military Manpower Administration. The number includes those refusing to serve on religious grounds.
The new decree will try to lower that number, by toughening the penalty for avoiding the draft. The bill was passed in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The law is expected to come into effect by at least late next year according to an aide to governing Saenuri Party Rep. Song Young-keun, after the military finalizes details of how the new rules will be enforced. Song is one of the chief writers of the law.
“The names and faces of conscientious objectors opting to serve prison terms instead of serving in the military will be initially publicized online,” an MMA spokesman said.
Whether their names would be taken off after serving jail time is unclear, he added, although it was likely that officials would remove them after they finished their sentences.
“There will also be a committee to check the identities of those accused of draft evasion, to prevent any misunderstanding,” a parliamentary official said.
Critics had raised fears that documentation errors could wrongfully designate as a draft dodger an individual who had already done his time in the military, or had not yet served due to personal circumstances.
“The panel will try to minimize human errors so that we don’t embarrass the wrong people,” the official added.
North and South Korea have been at war after a cease-fire agreement, and not a peace treaty, ended the Korean War in 1953. Border clashes have led to the deaths of hundreds since.
Recent skirmishes include the sinking of a South Korean naval ship Cheonan in March 2010 by a North Korean sub. The incident left 46 South Korean sailors dead. In November 2010, North Korea shelled Yeonpyeongdo Island, held by the South but located in the West Sea near the inter-Korean border. Two South Korean marines and two civilians were killed.
By Jeong Hunny (hj257@heraldcorp.com)
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Articles by Korea Herald
