It is an "obvious" lie that athletes who have not completed their military service obligations at the Asian Games and the Olympics often say. Considering the sensitive public opinion about military service obligations, he is reluctant to directly mention military service benefits, but the light smile on his lips every time he talks about the Asian Games gold medal means that he is sincere.
Currently, only those who win the first place in the Asian Games, the Olympic bronze medal or more, and the second place or more in domestic and international competitions recognized by the Commissioner of Military Manpower Administration, will be exempted from military service. According to the Military Service Act, which has been in effect since 2015, those who receive military service benefits must also do 544 hours of volunteer work within 34 months after receiving basic military training for a month. Special cases for World Baseball Classic (WBC) and World Cup soccer tournaments have disappeared.
Gold medals include pensions and rewards, but... All the unwritten male athletes who participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games dream of winning gold medals. If you win a gold medal, your salary will go up, pension points will be accumulated, and rewards will also come out. However, it is inevitable that military service exemption is more appealing to male players than that.
Men's soccer won the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Asian Games. In 2014, Kim Seung-gyu, Kim Jin-soo, Son Joon-ho, Lee Jae-sung, Kim Shin-wook, and Jang Hyun-soo received military service benefits. Four years later, Kim Min-jae, Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan, Hwang In-beom, Na Sang-ho, Hwang Ui-jo, and Cho Hyun-woo enjoyed the same benefits. If an athlete is exempted from military service, there is a huge benefit. Whether you renew your contract with your team or move your team, your salary or transfer fee will go up. In other words, the Asian Games gold medal gives wings to advance overseas or transfer to a prestigious club.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) Lee Kang-in (22) will participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games. Unlike the World Cup, the Asian Games are not a competition where the team is obligated to respond to the recruitment of players. PSG allowed Lee Kang-in to be transferred because he was determined to be strong and judged that the club could benefit if Lee Kang-in received military service benefits. Lee Kang-in is an all-weather offensive agent who plays midfielders and side strikers.
Military Sports Unit Enrollment Until the age of 27 In general, the Maginot Line for enlistment in the military sports unit is 27 years old. Lee Kang-in may have opportunities at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the 2026 Aichi and Nagoya Asian Games, and the 2028 LA Olympics, but the sooner the military service benefits come, the more favorable it is for Lee Kang-in.
Hwang Sun-hong, head coach of the men's national soccer team at the Asian Games, selected Baek Seung-ho (26), Park Jin-seop (28, Jeonbuk), and Seol Young-woo (25, Ulsan) as wild cards (players over 25 years old). Midfielder Baek Seung-ho, who scored a mid-range goal against Brazil in the round of 16 at the Qatar World Cup, even wore the captain's armband. Baek Seung-ho, whose contract with Jeonbuk ends this year, will join the Armed Forces Sports Unit later this year as scheduled. Defender Park Jin-seop is full of age and has to fulfill his military service obligations as a public service worker. Seol Young-woo did not receive military service benefits as South Korea stayed in the quarterfinals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. If he fails to win a gold medal at the Asian Games, he is scheduled to join the military later this year. Eom Won-sang (Ulsan), who is considered the best side striker in the K League, also desperately needs a gold medal at the Asian Games to advance smoothly overseas.
Men's baseball won gold medals for the third time in a row until the 2010 Guangzhou Games, 2014 Incheon Games and 2018 Jakarta Palembang Games. In terms of players, they are the closest country to winning the Hangzhou competition. Japan will form a national team mainly for unemployed players. Taiwan has the best players in the U.S. professional baseball minor leaguers and its professional and business leagues. Even so, it is hard to deny that Taiwanese professional players are somewhat inferior to Korean professional players.
Ryu Joong-il, head coach of the national baseball team at the Asian Games, cited young players in general. It is a decision to recover South Korea's fourth place at the Tokyo Olympics after a poor game. Most of the representative players are under the age of 25 or under the age of four years of joining the professional league. Park Se-woong (28, Lotte) and other players only played wild cards under the age.
Park Se-woong is the first multi-year starting pitchers in his team. He also wore the Taegeuk mark at the Tokyo Olympics and the World Baseball Classic (WBC). Hanwha ace Moon Dong-joo (20) is a promising player. Fielders include Noh Si-hwan (23, Hanwha) and Kang Baek-ho (24, KT). Nineteen out of 24 national team members have not completed military service. They also dream of becoming like Park Chan-ho, Kim Byung-hyun, Choo Shin-soo and Kim Ha-sung, who have solved military service issues through the Asian Games and the Olympics.
Korea has won the most medals in Asian Games golf with 13 gold medals, 13 silver medals, and 9 bronze medals. At the 2006 Doha and 2010 Guangzhou Games, he won four gold medals in the men's and women's individual and team events. However, at the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Games, he recorded "no gold" for the first time in 20 years.
At the Hangzhou competition, where professional golfers will participate for the first time in the history of Hangzhou Line, professional players will be able to participate for the first time. PGA Tour duo Lim Sung-jae (25) and Kim Si-woo (28) challenged. Im Sung-jae is ranked 27th in the world and is the best ranker for male players participating in the Asian Games. Kim Si-woo is also 40th, the second highest after Lim Sung-jae. With Lim Sung-jae and Kim Si-woo participating, there is an expectation that they will win both men's individual and team gold medals. Amateur Cho Woo-young (22) and Jang Yoo-bin (21) are also scary newcomers who won the Korean PGA Tour this year. Im Sung-jae and Kim Si-woo expected more than a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, but Im Sung-jae tied for 22nd and Kim Si-woo 32nd, respectively.
The biggest variable for the gold medal in golf at the Hangzhou Asian Games is course adaptation. The tournament will be held at the West Lake International Golf Course in Hangzhou. China did not open the course until just before the competition.
Shin Jin-seo, a 23-year-old Go player, will also receive military service benefits if he wins a gold medal. Shin Jin-seo rose to the top in 14 years as a Korean athlete in the Eung's boat, called the "Go Olympics," in August. Shin Jin-seo said, "The national team gave me a lot of consideration," and added, "I played a lot of matches with my teammates at Jincheon Training Center and did joint research."