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On January 12, 2023, the Joint Investigation Team booked rapper-songwriter VIXX’s Ravi for violating the Military Service Act and evading conscription by providing false health records.
According to Joy News24, the famous rapper was caught up in suspicion of being a client of a broker military evasion group, hours before the booking on the same day. The idol’s agency, GROOVL1N, also responded to the reports on the same day, mentioning that they were investigating the truth.
A few hours after the agency's report, SBS News reported that VIXX's Ravi was charged with violating the law. The Joint Investigation Team plans to summon the rapper to investigate the matter soon.
VIXX’s Ravi makes headlines for evading conscription for low-level grade assessment with false health reports
VIXX’s Ravi, a rapper, producer, songwriter, entertainer, and founder of GROOVL1N, was recently caught under suspicion of evading military service. As per Star News, Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that a group of brokers who specialize in aiding wealthy people and celebrities to evade military service had Rapper A as their client, and were arrested on January 12, 2023.
The brokers advertised themselves by spreading the word that one of their clients was a popular idol rapper. This led to them coming under the radar when they began promoting that they helped a famous idol get a Grade 4 in military assessment.
Grade 4 denotes non-active duty, wherein a man who is not healthy mentally or physically, is assigned social work instead of an active duty soldier role, such as SHINee's Taemin.
The report did not name the idol, but mentioned other details that pointed towards VIXX’s Ravi. As per the reports, the client is a famous rapper who left an entertainment program in May 2021, returned in September of that year, and enlisted as a public service worker in October last year.
The timeline coincided with VIXX’s Ravi, as he stepped down from being a regular member of 2 Days & 1 Night in May and enlisted as a social worker in October.
Additionally, it was reported that the brokers designated their clients to a hospital to give them a false diagnosis of epilepsy. The diagnosis would lead to either a military exemption or a grade level adjustment. They reportedly have clients such as celebrities, athletes, children of people in legal professions, and famous rappers.
Meanwhile, Ravi's agency, GRROVL1N, issued a statement earlier informing that they will “give thorough explanations” once they examine the truth. They even added that they will "faithfully" co-operate with any investigation related to the matter. An excerpt from their statement reads:
“In addition, if there is a request for an investigation related to this case, [Ravi] will undergo it faithfully at any time. More exact details will be provided in a separate notice at a later date.”
Military service in South Korea is compulsory as the country is in an ongoing war with its nuclear-armed neighbor, North Korea. Evading conscription is a punishable crime and a controversial issue in the country.
