Seok Hyeon-joon (32), who was embroiled in controversy over military service evasion, was sentenced to one year in prison by the prosecution.
Prosecutors asked the judge to “sentence him to one year in prison” at the trial for the determination of Seok Hyun-joon’s violation of the Military Service Act held at the Suwon District Court on the 15th.
The prosecution explained the reason for the request, saying, “The defendant Seok applied for an extension of his overseas stay several times before being notified to return to Korea, and returned home only one year after the notification of return.”
Seok Hyun-jun, born in 1991, is a striker from the national team who has been on the European stage for a long time. In 2009, he went through the prestigious Ajax test in the Netherlands and stepped on the first team stage, and even after leaving Ajax, he continued his European life by going through Groningen (Netherlands), Porto (Portugal), and Trabzonspor (Turkey).
Seok Hyeon-jun also scored 5 goals in 15 matches in A-match, but caused a big controversy due to military issues. He stayed in Europe despite being notified by the Military Manpower Administration to return to Korea by June 3, 2019, violating the military service law.
Later, in September 2017, Seok Hyun-joon applied for permission to extend the overseas travel period based on Article 5, Paragraph 1 of the ‘Overseas Travel Regulations for Military Service Obligees’, but was rejected. Then, on May 20, 2019, he requested an administrative judgment from the Central Administrative Appeals Commission, but this was also dismissed.
In the end, Seok Hyeon-jun returned to Korea last year when his passport was invalidated by the Military Manpower Administration and his work visa expired. In December of last year, he said on social media, “I sent a letter of cooperation to a foreign club to terminate the contract, but the club ignored it to send it only to clubs that pay high transfer fees. I paid a penalty for military service and terminated the contract. Currently, I am invincible. We are waiting to fulfill our national defense obligations.” 안전놀이터
Seok Hyeon-joon joined the K4 League Jeonju Citizens Soccer Team, where he can play as a public service agent, in February, but has not been able to play since. It is known that he failed to register formally due to trial issues.
Meanwhile, the sentencing hearing for Seok Hyun-joon will be held on the 1st of next month. Violation of Article 94, Paragraph 2 of the Military Service Act is punishable by imprisonment for up to three years. If he is sentenced to imprisonment or imprisonment for a term of less than 6 months to 1 year and 6 months, he will be transferred to supplementary service, and if he is sentenced to less than 1 year and 6 months, he will be transferred to wartime work (level 5).