Prosecutors asked for a prison sentence for Seok Hyeon-jun (32), a former striker on the national soccer team, who was handed over to trial for violating the Military Service Act. Mr. Seok is accused of not returning to Korea arbitrarily, although the period of permission to stay abroad by the Military Manpower Administration has passed.
Hyunjun Seok. yunhap news
Suwon District Court Criminal 13 Independent Judge Kim Jae-hak held a hearing on the 15th to determine Mr. Seok’s violation of the Military Service Act.
Prosecutors explained the reason for the request, saying, “The defendant applied for an extension of his overseas stay several times before being notified to return to Korea, and returned home only after one year from the date of notification to return.”스포츠토토
On the other hand, the defense attorney appealed, “The defendant had unavoidable circumstances in which he had no choice but to be dragged around the club because the overseas club he signed a contract with at the time did not properly know the domestic military service relationship.” He continued, “I had no choice but to rely on an agency because my language skills were not good.” He said, “Since there is no reason for evasion or evasion of military service, please be lenient to the maximum extent permitted by the law.”
In his final statement, Mr. Seok said, “I completely relied on the agency due to language difficulties while living abroad, and I continued to inform the seriousness of the military problem, but I could not solve it.
He was stupid and immature,” he said. He added, “I will fulfill my military service immediately after the sentence.”
Seok received a notice from the Military Manpower Administration to return to Korea by June 3, 2019 while staying in France to work as a soccer player abroad. However, he was charged with not returning to Korea within the designated period without a justifiable reason.
After leaving for France on November 12, 2018, he applied for an extension of his stay for the purpose of moving abroad in March 2019, but it was investigated that he was rejected and notified to return. The sentencing hearing for Mr. Seok will be held on the 1st of next month at 1:50 pm.