South Korea will allow male video game players who win a gold medal at this year’s Asian Games, which began on Monday, to avoid mandatory military service, outraging fans of boy band superstars BTS who argue that the feat of becoming the country’s most successful music act in history is more deserving.
The Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China, are the first sporting event to integrate “esports,” or playing video games, into its extensive list of competitions, which otherwise includes athletic competitions such as swimming, baseball, tennis, and weightlifting. It has also traditionally included games that are not sports, however, such as the board games go and chess.
The Asian Games is a continental competition organized by the Olympic Council of Asia, which operates independently from but is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). As an Olympic-level competition, South Korean law includes the Asian Games in its provisions regarding male military service exemptions.
An athlete who wins a gold medal in the Olympics or the Asian Games does not have to serve in the military. Others who qualify for exemptions include ballet and classical music performers – but, notably, not artists who specialize in pop music.
All other men, with extremely limited exceptions, must serve two years in the military starting between the ages of 18 and 28.
File/ (L-R) RM, J-Hope, Suga (rear), Jung Kook (center front), Jin (rear), Jimin, V. of BTS perform onstage during 102.7 KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at the Forum on December 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Rich Fury/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
The Asian Games have seven gold medals in video games up for the taking this year, the first that “esports” is included among the games, in the games League of Legends, EA Sports FC, PUBG Mobile, Arena of Valor, Dota 2, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, and Street Fighter V. “Esports” is extremely popular on the continent. According to China’s state-run Global Times publication, tickets to watch competitors play video games are so popular that Chinese organizers had to implement a lottery system, and even then the tickets are much more expensive than for athletic events.
South Korea remains in a technical state of war with communist North Korea, paused since 1953 but never formally ended with a peace treaty. As a result, it trains all its men to fight and maintains an active military presence, with the help of the United States, on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) – the border between the two Koreans.
“According to Article 68-11(1)(5) of the Military Service Act Enforcement Decree, individuals who achieve first place in the Asian Games can be included as artistic and athletic personnel,” a Defense Ministry spokesperson explained in 2020. “Therefore, if a professional gamer wins first place in an official esports event, they can be included as artistic and athletic personnel.”
File/ August 24, 2022: A South Korean soldier uses an anti-drone gun during an anti-terror drill on the joint South Korea-US Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) military exercises at Seoul Metro headquarters in Seoul. (Kim Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
South Korea has at least one such competitor in its ranks this year: 27-year-old Lee Sang-hyeok, who plays video games under the alias “Faker.” Known in the subculture as “the Michael Jordan of esports,” Lee’s South Korean team enters the competition in the game League of Legends as frontrunners and easily defeated their competition, the teams from Kazakhstan and Hong Kong, on Monday, the first day of competition. Lee is widely expected to win a gold medal – and, with it, exemption from military service – despite suffering from hand injuries in early 2023 that impacted his gameplay.
Public sentiment in South Korea on the possibility that “Faker” could game his way out of a national legal obligation has been mixed, as achieving a gold medal in an Asian Games competition is a concrete achievement in a way that attaining popularity as a musician or actor, for example, is not.
“If everyone gets an exemption for winning gold medals, then you have to include those in esports,” Kim Myong-won, a Seoul resident, told Nikkei Asia in a recent report. “But it does sound strange that you can be exempt for sitting in front of a computer and playing games.”
For fans of the boy band BTS, which has broken Billboard records and attracted global cultural recognition for its country, news of a potential exemption for “Faker” stung, as three of the band’s six members are currently serving in the military.
In addition to international success with both Korean- and English-language hits, the members of BTS have broken multiple Guinness World Records, become the first artists from Korea to be nominated for Grammy Awards, and made history by taking the top ranking on Billboard charts with Korean-language songs. The band won the Korea Society’s prestigious James A. Van Fleet Award in 2020, offered to individuals for their “outstanding contributions to the promotion of U.S.-Korean relations.” Shortly before their hiatus last year, preceding several members entering the military service, American President Joe Biden invited them to the White House to discuss anti-Asian discrimination.
File/Members of the South Korean pop group BTS speak at the daily press briefing at the White House on May 31, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
A majority of South Koreans, about 60 percent, said they supported giving BTS members military exemptions in a Gallup survey taken last year. Lawmakers rallied in an attempt to change the laws to help the band; one such lawmaker, Yoon Sang-hyun, credited the boy band with doing “a job that would take more than 1,000 diplomats to do” in elevating the cultural profile of South Korea internationally.
“[sic throughout] It’s crazy how that govt is ok with giving military exemption to these e-gamers instead of bts who has been contributing billions in sk [South Korean] economy,to say currently no gamer is eligible for it bcz none has that gold medal in asian games,bts economic impact is bigger than that medal♀️,” a BTS fan recently wrote on Twitter.
“This really makes me question how the South Korean government determines what national prestige is and how people contribute to it,” another BTS fan wrote on social media. “Does esports boost/spread their culture more than music, the arts and global relations? I wonder how much money esports contributes to their economy versus BTS and other artists?”
“I don’t see how this is fair,” a third dejected supporter lamented.
BTS received a deferment for their service that allowed them to continue performing from ages 28 to 30. The members chose not to apply for an extension of that last year, however. Three members – Jin, J-Hope, and Suga – are currently in the military, where the South Korean government has posited they will benefit the nation and the armed forces with their positive reputations and presence. Jin joined in October, shortly after the banned announced it would enter a “hiatus” stage in an emotionally wraught live broadcast in which they lamented suffering from exhaustion.
SEOKJIN, WE MISSED YOU!
LOOK: Jin of South Korean supergroup #BTS, who enlisted on Dec. 13, 2022, shares an update to his fans after getting approval from the military.
“I’m enjoying my life. ARMYs, always be happy and be well too,” he writes. | 📷: Weverse via @jbvdellera pic.twitter.com/CQ0ItQ3l2q
— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) January 18, 2023
J-Hope announced the beginning of his service in April.
Suga joined most recently, on Friday, and has been allowed to perform “alternative” service as a social service agent, reportedly as a result of a history of shoulder problems.
“I’ll faithfully serve and come back … Please stay healthy and let’s meet all again in 2025!” Suga wrote to his fans on WeVerse, the social media outlet of choice for the band, last week.
The men have been allowed to post photos in uniform on social media – galvanizing support from fans – and Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup went as far as to suggest that they may be allowed to reunite and perform while serving.
“They should come to the military, and I believe there will be a way for us to give them the opportunity to practice as well as allow them to leave the country and perform anytime if they have overseas concerts scheduled,” Lee said in August 2022, according to the Korea Herald.
“Many people do think highly of military service itself, and I think (BTS members enlisting) can actually help them with their popularity,” he noted.
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