[Remedies] Military Service Physical Exam Objection: Deadline and Re-examination Documents — Within 10 Days, Counting the Day of the Decision

3-Line Summary

• An objection to a military service determination must be submitted to the local Military Manpower Administration office or the Central Military Service Examination Center within 10 days, including the day the determination was made. If the last day falls on a Saturday or a public holiday, the deadline is extended to the following day.
• Once an objection is filed, the medical officer in the relevant subject will conduct a re-examination. If you still disagree with the result, the grade is determined through examination and deliberation at the Central Military Service Examination Center.
• For the re-examination, you must submit records showing your condition at the time of the initial determination (surgical reports, imaging readouts, medical records). Diseases that newly occurred or worsened after the determination are contested separately through a request for change in military service disposition.

Table of Contents

1. How to calculate the 10-day period
2. The single medical certificate taken to the examination center
3. Determinations subject to objection and those not subject to objection
4. What to do with a shoulder that dislocates again after the determination
5. When records from two different hospitals conflict
6. The reasons written in the objection form
7. The day of the re-examination and the results
8. A checklist for when you disagree with a military service determination

1. How to calculate the 10-day period I am an administrative agent (administrative agent) working in Songdo, Incheon. I would like to introduce an anecdote from my work.

The deadline for an objection to a military service determination is 10 days. While the number might seem generous, the day the determination was made is included in these 10 days. If you received your determination examination on a Tuesday, that Tuesday is Day 1, and Day 10 is the following Thursday. If the last day falls on a Saturday or a public holiday, it is extended to the next day.

On a Sunday night, a consultation request arrived in my office mailbox. It was from a 20-year-old university student who said he had received his military service determination examination last Tuesday. At the end of the email, there was this sentence: “I understand the deadline for the objection is by next Friday; will there be enough time to prepare before then?”

When I counted the days on the calendar, it was already Day 6. The deadline was not Friday, but Thursday, leaving only four days from Monday to Thursday.

There was a reason why he thought it was Friday. He had received the determination result again via text message on Wednesday, and he had started counting 10 days from that day. If you set the reference date differently—such as the day you received the result text or the day after returning home from the examination—the date can easily be off by one or two days. For procedures with short deadlines, you must first verify the reference date. In my reply email that night, I wrote only two lines: “The last day is Thursday. Tomorrow morning, I will check your records via video call.”

2. The single medical certificate taken to the examination center On Monday morning, we had a consultation via video call. He had undergone arthroscopic surgery at a university hospital in Seoul after his shoulder dislocated several times following a sports injury two years ago. Even after the surgery, he felt as though his shoulder might dislocate if he lifted heavy objects or rotated his arm widely, and he had visited the emergency room six months ago after it dislocated once more.

During the weekends, he was helping at his father’s dry cleaner by carrying bundles of blankets and curtains. His determination result was a grade for active-duty enlistment. If his shoulder dislocated again during training, he might need another surgery, and in the meantime, he would have to give up his work at the dry cleaner.

He had only taken one medical certificate from an orthopedic clinic near his house to the examination center. The certificate contained the name of the disease and a single line stating “post-operative condition.” He did not bring imaging readouts from before and after the surgery, surgical reports, or the emergency room records from six months ago. He said he had not thought to obtain the records from the university hospital separately.

A determination doctor judges based on the materials placed before them and the examination results. Records that were not submitted at the time of the determination cannot be reflected in the determination. This was the starting point of this case.

3. Determinations subject to objection and those not subject to objection First, I checked whether his determination was subject to objection.

• Grades determined by height and weight are not subject to objection. This is because the measured values directly become the grade.
• Determinations by subject determined by disease or mental/physical disability are subject to objection. In his case, it was a determination in the orthopedic subject.
• If an objection is filed, the medical officer in the relevant subject will conduct a re-examination. If you still disagree with the result, the grade is determined through examination and deliberation at the Central Military Service Examination Center.

The deadline for an objection to the physical grade received during the military service determination examination is different from the deadline for an objection to the results of the enlistment determination examination. An objection to the enlistment determination examination results must be submitted within 7 days. Since he was at the military service determination examination stage, the 10-day standard was correct.

An objection is not a procedure to say you are unhappy with the grade, but a procedure to request that they re-examine your condition at the time of the determination.

4. What to do with a shoulder that dislocates again after the determination During the consultation, he added one more thing. He mentioned that two days after the determination, his shoulder dislocated again while he was lifting a bundle of blankets at the laundromat. He suggested including those medical records in the administrative appeal.

I decided not to include those records in the administrative appeal. There were two reasons for this.

1. An administrative appeal disputes the state of health at the time of the determination. Mixing in events that occurred after the determination could be interpreted as the argument: “The determination was accurate, but his condition worsened afterward.”
2. There is a separate procedure for cases where a new disease arises or an existing one worsens after the determination. To apply for a change in military service status or exemption (Form No. 108 of the “Enforcement Rule of the Military Service Act”), one must submit an Application for Change of Military Service/Exemption along with a military medical certificate and a statement of circumstances to the head of the local Military Manpower Administration. If the person has already received a notice of enlistment, the application must be submitted by the day before the enlistment date.

I instructed him to keep the medical records from two days after the determination separately. If the result of the administrative appeal is different from what was expected, those records will serve as the starting point for an application for a change in military service status. By keeping the two procedures separate rather than mixing them, a next step remains regardless of which outcome is reached.

5. When records from two different hospitals conflict On Monday morning, we identified the necessary records.

• University Hospital: Surgical report, MRI reading reports before and after surgery, outpatient medical records, and imaging CDs.
• Emergency Room: Medical records of the shoulder dislocation from six months ago and the reduction (the procedure to reset the dislocated joint) records.
• Local Orthopedic Clinic: Rehabilitation treatment records and a copy of the medical certificate submitted during the determination examination.

On Monday afternoon, he obtained the records at the medical record desk of the university hospital. Fortunately, the imaging CD was in his desk drawer at home. He sent me a photo, saying it took him 30 minutes to find it because he had tucked it between game title cases. A sticker with a game name, which looked like it was from his middle school days, was half-stuck on the surface of the CD.

When we laid the records out side-by-side, a problem became apparent. The medical certificate from the local orthopedic clinic had the year of surgery recorded as one year later than the actual date. If the dates on the university hospital’s surgical report and the clinic’s certificate do not match, questions may arise during the re-examination regarding which record should be trusted.

On Tuesday morning, he went to the orthopedic clinic with a copy of the surgical report and requested a corrected medical certificate. He received the corrected certificate in the afternoon. It was safer to spend a day to align the dates rather than submitting records with conflicting dates.

6. The reasons written in the administrative appeal I did not write a long explanation in the “Reason” section of the administrative appeal (Military Manpower Administration form). I divided it into three parts so that the examining doctor could immediately see exactly what they needed to verify when reviewing the case.

1. Records not submitted at the time of determination: The fact that the surgical report, the MRI reading reports before and after surgery, and the emergency room records of the re-dislocation from six months ago were not submitted during the determination.
2. Chronological progression: A one-page timeline listing the initial dislocation, repeated dislocations, surgery, re-dislocation after surgery, and rehabilitation treatment in chronological order.
3. Request: A request to re-evaluate the orthopedic classification by reflecting the above records.

I organized the submitted documents as follows:

I used only the dates found in the hospital records for the timeline. I did not include any dates based on memory. Since writing false information for the purpose of being exempted from military service is subject to punishment under Article 86 of the 「Military Service Act」, I only included information that could be verified through records in the application and the timeline.

On Wednesday morning, he submitted the administrative appeal to the competent local Military Manpower Administration. It was the 9th day, one day before the final deadline on Thursday. After submission, he confirmed the receipt and obtained a receipt of submission.

7. The Day of the Re-examination and the Results The re-examination schedule was notified via text message. Since the individual must undergo the re-examination in person, I sent him a brief summary of what to prepare the day before.

• Original imaging CD and original reading reports
• One copy of the progress chart (clinical record) for personal use
• Answer the orthopedic physician’s questions in the order of the progress chart

During the re-examination, the orthopedic physician reviewed the pre- and post-operative imaging reading reports and the surgical records, and confirmed the records of re-dislocation after the surgery. In this case, the grade was adjusted to a level corresponding to supplementary service during the re-examination. Even for the same diagnosis, the determination can vary depending on the surgical outcome, recurrence, and the contents of the records, so the result cannot be determined in advance.

If the result was different from expectations, I had already established the following next steps: the method of requesting a deliberation from the Central Military Manpower Administration Examination Center, the method of applying for a change in military service disposition based on re-dislocation records occurring after the initial determination, and the method of contesting the military service disposition itself through an administrative appeal. The filing period for an administrative appeal is 90 days from the date of becoming aware of the disposition, or 180 days from the date the disposition was made. I have organized the details regarding administrative appeals separately in the post Military Service Determination Objection·Administrative Appeal Period and Documents.

On the evening he received the result text message, he sent a photo of a laundromat. It said that starting this weekend, he would be taking over the cash register instead of bundles of bedding.

8. Checklist When You Have an Objection to a Military Service Determination If you have an objection to a military service determination, please check the following in order:

1. Calculate the Deadline: Count the day you received the determination as Day 1 and mark the 10th day on your calendar. If it falls on a Saturday or a public holiday, the deadline extends to the next business day.
2. Identify the Subject: Distinguish whether it is a grade for height/weight or a determination for a disease/mental or physical disability.
3. Records at the Time of Determination: Obtain surgical records, imaging reading reports, and medical records from each hospital that were not submitted at the time of the initial determination.
4. Compare Record Dates: Check if the surgery dates and diagnosis dates written by each hospital are consistent; if they differ, request a corrected issuance.
5. Separate Post-Determination Records: Keep records of symptoms that occurred after the determination separately for the purpose of applying for a change in military service disposition.

Because the deadline for filing an objection to a military service determination is short, the preparation of the objection form and the organization of records often need to be carried out simultaneously. The office of administrative agent (administrative agent) Hwang Yunsang organizes the list of records by hospital, prepares the objection form and progress charts, and handles the submission to the competent Regional Military Manpower Administration on your behalf. The individual must undergo the re-examination in person. Since the deadlines and subjects vary depending on the case, it is necessary to verify with the competent Regional Military Manpower Administration.

This has been reconstructed for the purpose of understanding and does not relate to any specific person or event.