Draft dodgers in South Korea will be punished with longer military services while additional medical check-ups will be required for those applying for exemptions, according to the Military Manpower Administration.
The new measures will take effect between 2010 and 2011.
All able-bodied Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 must serve 24 months in the country's military that confronts North Korea across a heavily fortified border.
Evading the draft has long been a hot-button issue here, with political candidates losing elections for not having served or for having their sons exempted.
Police are now conducting an investigation into hundreds of men suspected of trying to avoid the draft by faking illnesses or physical disabilities. Some 530 males were caught trying to evade the draft over the past five years, with popular entertainers, athletes, and the sons of influential figures among them.
Some draft dodgers are said to manipulate urine tests, often with the help of doctors, to feign kidney disease or abnormal blood pressure.
Once the punitive steps are enforced, those caught attempting to evade the draft will be forced to serve three years, one and half times longer than the mandatory period, the MMA said.
The agency said it will also require reexamination of conscripts whose medical records do not show treatment for cited illnesses over the previous year.
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