To that earlier anon and other carats too pls also keep in mind the exemption is because of his ACL injury. It's not something random it is because he was injured and the examinations deemed him unfit for service at the time of the examination (only saying this bc idk when he would have gone in for this, and he HAS been cleared to join schedules again so it's a little confusing)
Im hoping an official statement comes out at least acknowledging this and maybe clearing up a few details soon but it's just hope rn. Best we can do is hope cheol is still taking care of himself :(
yes, meant to mention this in my earlier post as well but didn't want to ramble on too much
also yes, good point that we don't know when the examination took place. but even if it was recently I feel like this call isn't super surprising? even if he's on the mend and doing well with physical therapy you don't want to fuck around and find out with ACL injuries until you're really fully healed
I feel like some people are panicking and acting like this means his injury is much worse than we initially thought, but I don't think that's necessarily the case. it's not unreasonable for him to have been exempted from what we already knew. torn ACLs are no joke and rehab takes a while!
I did see just now that pledis confirmed he was exempted due to his ACL tear, surgery, and recovery process. the article also says he was classified as a "Grade 5" and that "According to South Koreaβs conscription system, men in Grade 5 are exempt from mandatory military service during peacetime. In the case of a war, they are required to perform labor in support of the military." so do with that information what you will!
