Conscientious Objector Jailed After Being Outed As PUBG Player

The Supreme Court of Korea has dominated {that a} South Korean man should serve one 12 months and 6 months in jail after he refused the nation’s obligatory army service. He had argued he was a conscientious objector, however a decrease court docket dismissed this partially as a result of he loves enjoying PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

Released in 2017, PUBG was one of many first and hottest battle royale shooters round. It nonetheless holds the file for many concurrent gamers on Steam at over 3 million. (Not even the latest mega-hit Palworld might high that quantity.) While different video games—like Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone—have usurped its standing as the highest battle royale title, it nonetheless frequently seems on Steam’s most-played video games record and nonetheless has a really massive group. That contains one man in South Korea who trying to keep away from obligatory army service.

In November 2018, an unnamed South Korean man was charged with violating the nation’s Military Service Act, which compels all able-bodied males within the nation to serve within the army for a minimum of 18 months. As reported by The Korea Herald (and noticed by Gamesradar) the person initially advised the court docket he refused to enlist primarily based on his private beliefs in opposition to struggle.

In the decision handed down in 2018—and upheld by the Supreme Court on February 4—the court docket mentioned the defendant had “not put any effort into spreading or realizing what he says is his ideological belief.” The court docket additionally pointed to the person’s love of PUBG as additional proof he wasn’t in opposition to struggle and violence.

“The defendant admitted that he frequently enjoyed playing the game ‘Battlegrounds,’ which is about killing characters with guns in a virtual reality,” the court docket added, as reported by The Korea Herald. “The video game is different from reality. But the fact that the defendant—who says he is rejecting military service based on his beliefs to oppose violence and war—enjoys such games makes the court question whether his conscientious objection is authentic.”

According to investigators, he refused to affix the army on account of “rampant unfair orders” and since it frequently disregards human rights. The court docket disagreed and now the Supreme Court of Korea has confirmed the unique ruling. The defendant will now be pressured to serve 18 months in jail—the identical period of time he would have needed to serve within the army.

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