海角大神

Another South Korean superlative: Most draft dodgers in prison

South Korea's military draft makes no exemptions for conscientious objectors who face prison for refusing to serve. The majority of those imprisoned are Jehovah's Witnesses.

Kim Ji-gwan has a succinct explanation for why he, his father, and two brothers all chose to go to jail rather than be drafted into the South Korean armed forces.

鈥淚t is very simple,鈥� says Mr. Kim, chatting in a coffee shop in the city鈥檚 posh Kangnam district. 鈥淛esus commanded all his followers to love your neighbor.鈥�

In the past, the US and many other countries accepted religious beliefs as grounds for opting out of military service. Not so聽South Korea, where men still serve a minimum of 21 months in the military.

The UN Human Rights Council reports that 669 of 723 conscientious objectors in jail worldwide as of last November are Korean. And almost all of these prisoners are Jehovah鈥檚 Witnesses, an evangelical 海角大神 sect whose members refuse to serve because, they say, the Bible聽teaches people to "love one another." Since the Korean War ended in 1953,聽an astonishing 17,549 Jehovah鈥檚 Witnesses have gone to jail in聽South Korea聽for their beliefs.

South聽Korea聽allows some draftees with minor disabilities or special skills to leave military service after completing one month鈥檚 basic training. Jehovah鈥檚 Witnesses like Mr. Kim and his family聽would聽refuse even this option聽if available to them.听

Efforts to change the law so that conscientious objectors can聽choose alternative service have all failed. And, while public opinion is shifting towards聽acceptance of this alternative, in a country聽with 639,000 troops confronting nearly twice as many North Koreans under arms, there may be limited sympathy for conscientious objectors.

Outlier among 海角大神s

The Jehovah鈥檚 Witnesses鈥� stance puts its 100,000 followers at odds with Korean Catholics and Protestants who make up about 30 percent of the country鈥檚 50 million people and whose young members routinely serve in the military. 聽

As long as South Korea鈥檚 government refuses alternative service, Jehovah鈥檚 Witnesses say they have no choice but to go to jail. At the same time, members deliberately avoid radical politics and show no sympathy with nuclear-armed North Korea.听

In a statement, the church said it isn鈥檛 trying to make a political point or to obstruct others who serve in the military. 鈥淲e obey the law, pay our taxes, and cooperate with the government鈥檚 efforts to provide for the public welfare.鈥�

Korean courts typically sentence objectors to 18 months in jail, reducible to a year and two or three months for good behavior. For many years, objectors聽have called for a law聽providing for alternative service but聽to no avail.

It was in hopes of passage of such a law that Kim Ji-gwan fought off charges of draft evasion until a court sentenced him in November 2008 to 18 months in prison. He was released for good behavior, he says, 鈥渙ne year, two months, and two days鈥� later. His term overlapped with that of his elder brother and followed a similar sentence served by his oldest brother.

Family ordeal

Their father, he says, suffered more. He was jailed three times for a total of four years聽under the rule that聽those refusing military service remain聽eligible for the draft upon release聽if sentenced to less than 18 months. Judges聽in the past聽would often impose lesser sentences knowing that objectors would face another summons, and another conviction.听聽聽

The father, Kim Se-jung, looks on the family ordeal with distinctly mixed feelings. 鈥淎s a father, I felt pain because they are imprisoned,鈥� he says. 鈥淎t the same time, we sense that they follow their inner conscience. I think it is a proud decision.鈥�

After getting out of prison, Korean objectors face another problem: As convicted felons, they struggle to find jobs.听Kim Ji-gwan now聽runs his own marketing firm while his father supervises students at a college cram school.听

Even if South Korea went to war with North Korea, as in the early 1950s, Kim vows never to take up arms.听鈥淚 want to try to protect my family,鈥� he says without hesitation, 鈥渂ut that does not mean willfully killing others.鈥澛燗nd what if his survival and that of his family were at stake? 鈥淚 will ask God鈥檚 help,鈥� he says.

"Incomprehensible" belief

Kim pins his hopes for draft-eligible church members on what he sees as changing public opinion. 鈥淢any Koreans are in favor of conscientious objectors,鈥� he says, citing a Gallup Korea poll showing that 68 percent of 1,211 respondents favored alternative service for objectors. However, 76 percent said conscientious objection was 鈥渋ncomprehensible鈥� while only 21 percent found it 鈥渦nderstandable.鈥�

The聽defense聽ministry, moreover, has abandoned a proposal for amending the law to let objectors begin alternative service after military training. A defense official聽points to the threat from North Korea and questions whether Jehovah鈥檚 Witnesses deserve draft exemptions. 鈥淎re religious objectors different from those with personal or political convictions or reasons?鈥澛爃e asks.

Seok Jim-dong, another Jehovah鈥檚 Witness who served time in prison for refusing to聽join the military, is doubtful that the Korean government will change the law on objectors. 鈥淭he mood is peaceful but nothing has yet changed,鈥� he says.