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NO MILITARY SERVICE
Olympics Headlines
- Paralympics officials on the lockout for boosting
- Cheating at Paralympics could involve self-harm
- Pistorius to run again, this time at Paralympics
- Pistorius runs again, this time at Paralympics
- Classifying disabilities tricky at Paralympics
- After judo gold, Harrison might go for Rio in 2016
- Paralympic cauldron lit in central London
- Valerie Adams seeks her Olympic gold medal at IOC
- Full TV coverage for Paralympics, just not in US
- Brazil minister not concerned with hotel shortages
By The Associated Press
Updated August 10, 2012
(AP) -- Medal winners in South Korea are exempted from the 21 months of military service that their fellow countrymen must do before they are 29.
So the South Korean men's soccer team had an extra reason to celebrate Friday after beating regional rival Japan 2-0 and taking home a bronze medal.
"I'm very happy to win the bronze medal and everybody here will now get a new chance by being exempted from military service," said striker Park Chu-young, who scored a stunning first goal. "That's what I'm really pleased about because that was our aim at the start of the tournament.
Kim Bok-yung, who is joining English League Championship team Cardiff next season, said being able to skip military service "makes me as happy as winning the bronze medal."
"It is a big problem for Korean players, but now I have avoided it," he said. "I will have no problem staying in Europe."
- Chris Brummitt - Twitter http://twitter.com/cjbrummitt
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