The Cost of Song Min-ho’s 102-Day Unauthorized Absence: Military Manpower Administration Begins Re-Service Notice Process

Service obligations carry weight: reassessment of remaining term begins

Song Min-ho, 33, of the group WINNER, will resume fulfilling his remaining military service obligation after his conviction for unauthorized absence while serving as social service personnel became final.

The Military Manpower Administration said on the 16th that re-service had been decided after the first-instance ruling on Song Min-ho’s violation of the Military Service Act became final. An agency official said, “We plan to notify him of his re-service after comprehensively reviewing the exact re-service period and service institution based on the written judgment.”

Song Min-ho was indicted on charges of being absent without authorization from his assigned workplace for a total of 102 days while serving there from March 2023 through December of the following year. At a first-instance sentencing hearing held on the 1st at the Seoul Western District Court, he was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years. The sentence became final as originally issued after the defense failed to file an appeal within the deadline.

Under the current Military Service Act, anyone who is absent from service for a total of eight days or more without a justifiable reason is subject to criminal punishment. Having received a suspended prison sentence, Song Min-ho must complete the remaining term at an institution newly assigned to him under the Enforcement Decree of the Military Service Act.

On the 9th, he posted an apology on social media, writing, “I’m sorry for causing concern. I will faithfully fulfill the remaining procedures and obligations.” As a public figure who has caused a public controversy, he is expected to fulfill his military service obligations rigorously going forward.