South Korea defence minister faces fresh accusations of army desertion over 40 years ago

Questions surrounding South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back’s military service have resurfaced, with the government and his accuser offering conflicting accounts of what happened more than four decades ago.At the centre of the dispute is a gap in Ahn’s military record. His record shows he began mandatory service on November 5, 1983, and was discharged on August 31, 1985, amounting to roughly 22 months. Territorial defence soldiers at the time normally served for 14 months.His accuser alleged the discrepancy reflected an absence without leave lasting several months, a period of detention and a subsequent order to complete additional service.Ahn and the Ministry of National Defence said he never deserted his unit and attribute irregularities in his military record to administrative errors.The issue first drew wider attention during Ahn’s confirmation hearing as defence minister last year.South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back (left) and his Japanese counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, inspect honour guards during a welcoming ceremony in Seoul on June 28. Photo: EPARejecting the allegations, Ahn told lawmakers he had never vacated his post. “I never deserted. I have lived my life without anything to be ashamed of. The military record currently being managed does not accurately reflect what actually happened.”Calling himself “a victim of administrative errors in the military manpower system”, Ahn said during his confirmation hearing on July 15, 2025, that it would be inappropriate for him, as the nominee for defence minister, to release his records himself.According to Ahn, he was discharged on January 4, 1985, after completing what he believed was his required service and returned to university. He said military authorities later notified him that several days spent under investigation did not count towards his service, requiring him to return to his unit during summer holiday to make up the shortfall.Ahn said he served for about a month before being discharged again on August 31, 1985. He argued that his record mistakenly counted the months he spent at university between the two discharge dates, resulting in about 22 months being recorded instead of the 14 months he actually served.The minister also said he first became aware of the discrepancy when he ran for a third term in the National Assembly in 2016. He said he had believed he was discharged on January 4, 1985, and had never been notified otherwise, but did not say who had confirmed the discharge.Complaint against AhnKim Young-soo, who heads a civic group focused on public-interest whistle-blowing and government transparency, disputes that account. Kim appeared before the police on Thursday after filing a complaint against Ahn for allegedly violating the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly.Further Reading“It is clear that he left his military post, was apprehended and detained, and later completed additional service,” Kim said.Kim alleged Ahn was absent without leave for about seven months in 1984, was detained for 30 days and later served additional time equivalent to the period of his absence. He also accuses Ahn of giving false testimony during his confirmation hearing when he denied leaving his post.The defence ministry has repeatedly rejected the allegations. At a regular briefing on July 13, ministry spokeswoman Chung Binna said Ahn’s detailed military record includes his initial discharge in January 1985, as well as his recall and final discharge later that year.“The minister completed his military service normally and the allegations are clearly false,” Chung said.South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (centre) and Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back listen to a military officer at an observatory on Yeonpyeong Island near the Northern Limit Line on June 24. Photo: Yonhap/EPAThe ministry has defended its decision not to disclose the records, saying documents containing clerical errors dating back 40 years could create further misunderstanding.The controversy has also raised questions about whether military authorities could legally recall a territorial defence soldier after discharge.The Military Manpower Administration said the military service law that was in force at the time contained no provision governing such a recall. It said service management, including discharge procedures, was handled by the military, meaning any process would have been governed by internal military regulations.The agency said it could not verify those regulations or how they were applied four decades ago because they fell under the military’s jurisdiction.The controversy has drawn no public response from President Lee Jae Myung, who has remained silent despite previously defending Unification Minister Chung Dong-young publicly when the opposition demanded his dismissal over remarks about a North Korean nuclear facility earlier this year.Neither the president nor the presidential office has commented on the allegations surrounding Ahn.