OMM Redaksiyası
A South Korean court has handed K-pop singer Song Min-ho a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, after convicting him of violating the country’s military service law.
The 33-year-old member of boy band “Winner”, also known by his stage name Mino, was found to have been repeatedly absent from a community centre in Seoul, where he served as a social worker between 2023 and 2024, Seoul Economic Daily reported.
South Korea requires all able-bodied men to complete at least 18 months of military service. Some people, including those with health-related reasons, are assigned instead to alternative service as social service personnel.
102 unauthorised absences recorded
According to the court, Song recorded 102 unauthorised absences during his 21-month assignment as a social service agent.
The sentence, issued on Thursday, will not require him to serve time in prison unless he commits another offence during the two-year probationary period. The court said military service was a duty that had to be performed “faithfully” and that social service agents were “no exception”.
Judges also took into account Song’s admission of the charges and expression of remorse.
Authorities began investigating him after his discharge in 2024, following local media reports that he had frequently failed to attend his duties and had taken excessive sick leave.
Song’s supervisor at the social service centre was also given a suspended prison sentence for helping him avoid his duties, including falsifying records to suggest that the singer had reported for work.
Military service and South Korea’s entertainment industry
The military service obligations of South Korean entertainers have long been the subject of public debate. “Gangnam Style” singer Psy was required to enlist twice, in 2003 and 2007, after a Seoul court ruled that he had neglected his duties by continuing his entertainment activities during his first service period.
Steve Yoo, one of South Korea’s biggest pop stars in the 1990s and early 2000s, became embroiled in a national scandal after being accused of evading military service in 2002. Authorities later barred him from entering the country after he gave up his South Korean citizenship and became a US national shortly before he was due to serve.
Military enlistment can interrupt careers in South Korea’s fast-moving entertainment industry, while attempts to evade service often bring intense public scrutiny and legal consequences.
Before Thursday’s ruling, Song told reporters that he regretted his actions and was “sorry toward the people who gave me so much love”, according to Seoul Economic Daily. He did not answer a question about whether he would re-enlist to complete the mandatory duty.
