Dimmed Stars: South Korea’s Draft Weakens its Soft Power

He was so close to making history, but the moment never came.

Chan Sung Jung, revered worldwide as The Korean Zombie, came closer than almost any male athlete to delivering East Asia its first UFC championship. In three consecutive bouts, he unleashed a seven-second knockout, claimed a ‘Submission of the Year’ victory and fought tooth-and-nail with one of mixed martial arts’ all-time legends. But even these remarkable feats could not spare him from South Korea’s military service, which tore him from the Octagon for nearly four crucial years at the height of his career.

How Defence Dulls Star Power

Jung’s experience epitomizes a recurring tragedy within South Korea’s cultural and sporting arenas, where the nation’s mandatory 18-month conscription erodes the technical precision of its athletes and invites irrelevance for its performers. Even BTS, the country’s cultural crown jewel, was compelled into a three-year group hiatus until last year, and acclaimed actor and singer Cha Eun-woo had to suspend multiple high-profile film projects upon his enlistment in July 2025.

Yet exemptions are reserved for a narrow echelon of global achievers, including Olympic victors and laureates of 35 arbitrarily chosen competitions, a category that encompassed just 220 individuals from 2008 to 2018. This system dismisses the prowess of both those excelling in other disciplines and those who fall infinitesimally short of the prescribed threshold; for instance, only Asian Games gold medallists are relieved of service, while similarly gifted silver medallists are not. Moreover, the policy impedes the momentum of emerging talents whose potential might have translated into landmark successes, especially in fields such as combat sports and golf, where participants often peak in their early thirties.

To their credit, South Korea’s administration has allowed conscripted professional athletes to maintain their skills through the Korean Armed Forces Athletic Corps, but this provision suffers from glaring limitations. Athletes in these units are deprived of access to their personal coaches, customized nutrition plans and specialized recovery protocols, while still required to perform regular military duties. Furthermore, competition is predominantly restricted to domestic leagues, substantially narrowing the quality of their teammates and opponents and thereby diminishing the exposure to elite talent that is essential for their progression.

The Million-Dollar Question of Reform

The case for reform becomes unequivocal, and justifies immense government expenditure, when one considers that these outdated constraints on South Korea’s stars have profound ramifications for the country’s soft power. Take BTS as an example: the seven members alone contributed $5 billion annually to the national economy, which made up an astonishing 0.5% of national GDP, or roughly equivalent to the output of half a million average workers. But rather than resorting solely to granting more exemptions, which would almost certainly provoke overwhelming societal backlash and exacerbate military manpower shortages, it should implement a more nuanced, tripartite framework that honours the ethos of national service while safeguarding the vital contributions of its cultural and athletic ambassadors.

Smarter Schedule or Shorter Service?

A cardinal focus might be to minimize prolonged career interruptions whilst ensuring these individuals still serve a total duration similar to that completed by ordinary male citizens. It could therefore introduce a shortened initial conscription period of only a few months, which would be scheduled at a juncture easily accommodated in their professional calendar, such as after a major tournament or concert tour. This could then be supplemented by annual reservist duties that last slightly longer than the customary three days, with these refreshers extending beyond the standard eight-year post-discharge limit to further compensate for any lost time.

Additionally, to prevent countless talents from being overlooked by the current exemption system, South Korea’s government could adopt a tiered framework that tailors military service reductions according to a broad spectrum of criteria and annually review both the evaluation metrics and the individual assessments to ensure fairness. Such criteria could include not only prestigious awards but also social media influence, global rankings and sponsorship deals, and be extended to recognize a talent’s potential by accounting for measures such as projected earnings and industry ‘rising star’ recognition.

Should Seoul instead opt to significantly reduce the overall duration served by its athletes and celebrities, it could oblige them to take on ‘public service’ duties that might include mentoring emerging talents or serving as cultural ambassadors, as the K-pop boy band EXO did when it featured in several of the Korean Tourism Organisation’s advertisements in 2018 and performed at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. These contributions could be staggered throughout their careers to minimize disruption, allowing them to support South Korea’s national development whilst remaining in the national spotlight, and avoiding the physical demands or frequent relocations that traditional military service would entail.

Despite every major sports event and high-profile enlistment igniting furore over this topic, remarkably little progress has been made toward change. South Korea’s government should break free from this long-standing grapple and deliver a solution that equitably balances career and civic duty for its talents, all while generating substantial benefits for the public at large.

© Sean Tan, 2026, published by RUSI with permission of the author.

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