Defense Ministry rebuffs renewed allegations over Ahn Gyu-baek's 22-month service record

Fresh controversy has erupted over Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-baek's military service record, with renewed allegations that he abandoned his post or was detained while serving as a reserve-duty soldier — and questions mounting over why his service period was logged as 22 months rather than the standard term. The Ministry of National Defense has rebuffed allegations of desertion and similar claims as plainly false, but has avoided giving a clear answer on whether a "30-day detention" entry exists in his record, declined to release the documents, and said any formal correction request will wait until after Ahn leaves office.

A Defense Ministry official met with reporters Friday and said the same groundless allegations raised a year ago were simply being recycled, adding that the minister did not need to address them personally. The official said filing a correction request while serving as defense minister could itself spark further controversy, and that the ministry planned to pursue the correction and any additional steps once Ahn had completed his term and no longer held the position.

Ahn's military record lists his service as 22 months rather than the standard 14, a discrepancy that prompted the opposition party to raise allegations of unauthorized absence or detention during his confirmation hearing last July.

His service record shows Ahn enlisted in the Army as a reserve-duty soldier in November 1983 and was discharged as a private first class in August 1985.

At last year's confirmation hearing, Ahn said the extended service stemmed from a military investigation into his family's practice of providing lunch to active-duty soldiers at his unit.

He said he completed 14 months of service and was discharged on Jan. 4, 1985, then returned to university that semester — only to receive a notice requiring additional service, which he fulfilled during the summer break in August, making that the official end date of his service.

Ahn said at the time that the additional service was required because the period under investigation had not been counted toward his service record.

On this, the Defense Ministry official said Ahn had indeed been investigated but faced no detention or disciplinary action, and that even Ahn himself could not explain why the additional service period arose — a position the ministry described as that of "a victim of administrative error in the military records."

However, when asked directly whether a "30-day detention" entry existed in the record, the official said it was "difficult to give a definitive answer" and declined to respond clearly. Reporters pressed again on the need to release the records, but the ministry repeated its existing position.

The ministry drew a line against demands to release the service record itself. The official said releasing a record that was incorrectly entered 40 years ago risked drawing attention to the document in isolation, regardless of the actual facts, and could deepen misunderstanding rather than resolve it.

However, the official again raised the possibility of administrative error, saying certain entries described the circumstances at the time in a way that made them appear to reflect wrongdoing when they did not.

The ministry also rebuffed claims of an unusually long service period, one of the central bases for the allegations. The official cited Ahn's academic transcripts and grade records, saying Ahn attended university normally in the first semester of 1985 and that claims of seven additional months of service or a prolonged absence were difficult to sustain.

In political circles, opposition figures have continued pressing the issue, pointing to the longer-than-usual service period in the record as grounds for suspecting unauthorized absence or disciplinary action. The allegations have gained renewed traction as they have become entangled with broader disputes over defense policy.