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A court in South Korea has found a man guilty of trying to avoid mandatory military service by deliberately gaining weight, local media report.

The 26-year-old began binge eating before his physical examination for the draft, a judge in the capital, Seoul, said. He was categorised as obese, allowing him to serve in a non-combat role at a government agency.

The defendant received a one-year suspended sentence. A friend who devised a special regimen that doubled his daily food intake got a six-month suspended sentence, the Korea Herald newspaper reports.

All able-bodied men in South Korea over the age of 18 must serve in the army for at least 18 months.

According to the Korean Herald, the defendant was assessed as fit for combat duty during an initial physical exam.

But at the final examination last year, he weighed in at over 102kg (225 lbs, 16 stone), making him heavily obese.

The man who recommended binge dieting had denied the charge of aiding and abetting, saying he never believed his friend would go through with it, the newspaper adds.