K-pop powerhouse BTS didn’t get one, star footballer Son Heung-min did: South Korea grants limited exemptions

from military service and for the first time eSports players can earn one.

For South Korean men, winning gold in any sport at the Asian Games opening on Saturday in Hangzhou comes with

an automatic exemption from 18 months in the army.

This year eSports is a medal event for the first time, meaning South Korea’s top players including team captain Lee

“Faker” Sang-hyeok have double the incentive.

Typically granted to elite athletes or classical musicians on the basis of promoting national prestige, the exemptions

are highly sought after.

Fewer than 100 exemptions for “arts and sports” were handed out last year, official statistics show.

They are also controversial.

South Korean skipper and Spurs striker Son avoided full military service after the national football team won gold at

the 2018 Asian Games. But despite generating billions for the economy and helping propel K-pop to a global

audience, megastars BTS were not deemed eligible.

Two members, Jin and J-Hope, are currently serving in the military and another, SUGA, was due to enlist on Friday

, according to their agency HYBE.

When the country was mulling military exemptions for K-pop stars, specifically so that BTS’ progress would not be

interrupted, about 33 percent of the public opposed the idea, according to a 2022 Gallup survey.

With eSports debuting as an Asian Games medal event and South Korea a powerhouse, the debate has roared back to

the fore. National team coach Kim Jeong-gyun brushed away questions on it, saying “a sense of duty” of representing

South Korea will be the only motivation for the players.

But experts say military service exemptions are a “very important issue” for the young athletes. “Currently, all

professional eSports players are male who begin playing in their late teens,” Choi Eun-kyoung, a professor at

Hanshin University, told AFP.

“The benefit of exemptions from military service is important because it can be another huge motivation booster for

players apart from the pride of representing their country.”

ESports will be contested at the Games in EA Sports FC, PUBG Mobile, Arena of Valor, Dota 2, League of Legends,

Dream Three Kingdoms 2 and Street Fighter V.

South Korea is often recognised as the country where eSports, or professional gaming, started.

Easy access to high-speed Internet and the emergence of “PC bangs” — Internet cafes — in the 1990s fostered a social

gaming culture among South Korean youths that quickly grew to a massive global community of gamers.

“If Athens is the birthplace of the Olympics, the birthplace of eSports is Seoul,” said Kang Do-kyung, a professional

gamer-turned-professor at Shingu College.

The Seoul government and the country’s eSports body poured in resources to make sure the 15 players on the national team are in tip-top condition for the Games.

In the build-up Seoul provided a training centre which included physiotherapy and counselling.

The Korea e-Sports Association reserved five-star hotel rooms near the Games venue where they will serve Korean

meals to ensure the players feel at home.

ESports was a demonstration sport at the 2018 Asian Games, when South Korea’s League of Legends team lost to

China in the final. Revenge will be on their mind, but the team declined to say if avoiding military service was too.

“Five years ago we had to settle for a silver medal, but this time we have strong players and there are many people

who support us,” Faker said. “I will work hard with the belief that we will definitely win,” he added.