[Instagram of Yoo Ah-in]
Yoo Ah-in, one of South Korea's most promising actors, was finally pronounced unsuitable for obligatory military service after he failed a series of medical tests for conscription.
The 30-year-old has been diagnosed with a benign bone tumor in his humerus, a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. The tumor has been at its early stage. He was eager to join the army but enlistment has been put off due to his physical status for two years. On Tuesday, conscription authorities ruled that the actor was exempted from military service.
All able-bodied South Korean men aged 18-35 are required to serve in the military for about two years because the Korean peninsula is still technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice with no peace treaty signed between the two Koreas.
"With our priority given to his health, the actor will be put under careful observation and management," Yoo's management agency, UAA, said in a statement. Yoo, who rose to fame in television series Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010), ranked second in Korea Power Celebrity by Forbes last year.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
