In South Korea, a court found a 26-year-old man guilty of deliberately gaining weight to avoid mandatory military service.
As informs BBC News, the defendant began to binge eat before passing the physical examination for the draft, which allowed him to fall into the category of obese persons. Thanks to this, he was sent to a non-combat position in a government institution instead of military service.
According to the case file, the man followed the recommendations of a friend who advised him to increase his caloric intake and drink plenty of water before the control weigh-ins. However, the friend rejected the accusation of aiding and abetting.
The convict, whose height is 1.69 m, proved his weight to 102 kg, which corresponds to a body mass index (BMI) of 35.8. This allowed him to receive the status of a person unfit for military service due to obesity.
This case became another in a series of attempts to evade mandatory service. In the past, other men have tried to cheat the system by faking illnesses or obtaining fake medical certificates. However, deliberate weight gain as a means of evasion is quite rare.
The case caused a wide resonance in society. Some see such actions as irresponsible, especially considering that thousands of young men are serving their duty to their country. Others are calling for a review of the draft system to avoid similar abuses in the future.
It is worth noting that in South Korea, all able-bodied men over the age of 18 are required to serve in the army for at least 18 months.
