Disputes continue over Rain’s military service

Despite recently being discharged from military service, K-pop star Rain (Jung Ji-hoon) is continuing to attract controversy over his service.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Kwang-jin argued that there was a problem with the documentation supporting the qualifications of “entertainment soldiers” such as Rain.

Kim claimed there were two major problems with Rain’s military service: a distorted process of entertainment soldier recruitment and Rain’s attitude toward military service.

“Rain had not submitted all of the required documents but he got accepted. The process of drafting entertainment soldiers had problems,” said Kim.

Kim also claimed that Rain had attitude problems during his service in the military, referring to the high-profile scandal involving his violation of rules.

The media and fans took his comments to mean Rain should re-enlist in the army and serve out the two-year mandatory service again.

The lawmaker, however, denied such speculation. His office, meanwhile, was bombarded with angry calls and emails from Rain’s fans on Wednesday.

In January, a local entertainment media outlet caught Rain secretly meeting with popular South Korean actress Kim Tae-hee outside the barracks even though he was on active duty.

Rain also faced criticism for enjoying more vacation days than regular conscripts, which sparked public uproar.

In response to Kim’s argument, the Defense Ministry said it found no serious problems.

“There’s no legal basis to call for Rain’s reenlistment, since his discharge was legitimate.”

Rain entered the military in October 2011 as an entertainment soldier and was discharged on July 10.

The Defense Ministry abolished the scandal-laden “entertainment soldier” system on July 18.

By  Im Woo-jung, Intern reporter
(iwj@heraldcorp.com)