South Korea defence minister faces fresh accusations of army desertion over 40 years ago

Questions surrounding South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back’s military service have resurfaced, with the government and his accuser offering conflicting accounts of what happened more than four decades ago. At the centre of the dispute is a gap in Ahn’s military record. His record shows he began mandatory service on November 5, 1983, and was discharged on August 31, 1985, amounting to roughly