Sports · Football · 10 hrs ago
Seven South Korean Asian Games footballers played under an hour and qualified for service exemption
South Korea’s Asian Games football team won gold, qualifying its players for a military service benefit.
Of the team’s 23 players, seven played less than an hour, and two made no appearances.
The benefit allows eligible athletes to serve as sports personnel rather than complete regular active military service.
A rule requiring players to appear in a match was dropped in 2020 after disputes over players being sent on for only a minute to qualify.
Park Seung-soo, who played 17 minutes, drew criticism after posting a photo wearing a military discharge hat after the final.
The low playing time has renewed questions about fairness in how the benefit is awarded.
Sports officials have said they will strengthen ethics education, while calls for wider changes to the system continue.
Seven of South Korea’s 23 Asian Games football gold medallists played for less than an hour, while two did not play at all, according to reports.
All seven qualified for military service benefits despite their limited playing time.
The reports said Park Seung-soo played 17 minutes across three matches, while defenders Park Gyeong-seop and Choi Woo-jin each played one minute in one match.
A rule requiring athletes to appear in at least one match was abolished in 2020 after controversy over token appearances.
The eligibility rules and some players’ conduct have prompted renewed calls to review the military service exemption system.
- Who
- Seven members of South Korea’s 23-player Asian Games football team played for less than an hour.
- What
- They qualified for military service benefits; two players did not appear in any match.
- When
- At the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
- Where
- Aichi and Nagoya, Japan.
- Why
- The reports say athletes who win Asian Games gold can qualify for the benefit, and the requirement to play in at least one match was abolished in 2020.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Son Heung-min said the team had come to win the tournament, while stressing the meaning of representing South Korea.
The requirement for athletes to appear in at least one match to qualify for the benefit was abolished.
South Korea’s men’s football team won gold; seven of its 23 players played less than an hour and two did not appear.
Reports highlighted the players’ limited playing time and renewed debate over the exemption system.
- Team size
- 23 players
- Played under an hour
- 7 players
- No match appearances
- 2 players
- Park Seung-soo
- 17 minutes across 3 matches
- Park Gyeong-seop and Choi Woo-jin
- 1 minute each
- Rule change
- Match-appearance requirement abolished in 2020
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What people are saying
I still get emotional just seeing the national flag, and I feel like crying whenever the national anthem plays
It does not end with education alone
In football, especially, there are virtually no teams that put together a national team as seriously as we do