“I've got it delayed until 2035” - Tom Kim’s South Korean teammate discusses prospect of him and golf partner joining military service after Olympics

The 2024 Paris Olympics are underway and South Korea's Tom Kim is in the running to secure a medal at the event. Along with his spectacular play at Le Golf National, another subject of discussion among observers lately has been about Kim potentially serving in South Korea's military.

In South Korea, able-bodied men are required to perform military service for anywhere between 18-21 months. Recently, Byeonghun An, Kim's South Korean teammate, spoke about the prospect of his partner joining military service in a press conference after Round 2.

Until now, An also hasn't served in South Korea's military. Detailing his own situation, he said:

"Your passport expires every year, for the guy who has not done military service. So, you have to renew it every year. How you renew is a little bit different for everybody. Some people go to grad school - there are many other ways but for me, it would be, I've got it delayed until 2035, I think. That's when my passport ends. I think they consider me as a non-resident."

An reasoned that while he has Korean nationality, he does not live in Korea anymore, which is why he has been allowed to not have to renew his passport every year.

He also spoke about Kim's situation and said that he does not know a lot about it.

"But I'm not sure what Tom's situation is because I know he left Korea at a young age. So, I can't really comment on that because like I said, I know him, but we haven't really shared any details about that. You've got to ask him," he added.

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Kim was also asked about his passport renewal and military obligations in the press conference. He had no clear answer to the question and said he wasn't a politician.

Where does Tom Kim rank after two rounds at the 2024 Paris Olympics?

After Round 2 concluded on Friday, Tom Kim was tied for 5th place with a score of 8-under. His teammate Byeonghun An on the other hand was T30 with a score of 2-under.

Here is a detailed list of how the leaderboard looked after two rounds at the Olympics:

T1. Xander Schauffele -11
T1. Hideki Matsuyama -11
T1. Tommy Fleetwood -11
4. Jon Rahm -9
T5. Thomas Detry -8
T5. C.T. Pan -8
T5. Tom Kim -8
T8. Stephan Jaeger -7
T8. Guido Migliozzi -7
T10. Erik van Rooyen -6
T10. Joaquin Niemann -6
T10. Scottie Scheffler -6
T13. Matt Fitzpatrick -5
T13. Victor Perez -5
T13. Alejandro Tosti -5
T13. Corey Conners -5
T13. Jason Day -5
T13. Rory McIlroy -5
T19. Matteo Manassero -4
T19. Sami Valimaki -4
T19. David Puig -4
T19. Collin Morikawa -4
T19. Carlos Ortiz -4
T19. Ludvig Aberg -4
T25. Shubhankar Sharma -3
T25. Kristoffer Ventura -3
T25. Fabrizio Zanotti -3
T25. Thorbjorn Olesen -3
T25. Zecheng Dou -3
T30. Keita Nakajima -2
T30. Nicolai Hojgaard -2
T30. Byeong Hun An -2
T30. Ryan Fox -2
T30. Adrien Dumont de Chassart -2
T35. Joel Girrbach -1
T35. Tapio Pulkkanen -1
T35. Emiliano Grillo -1
T35. Alex Noren -1
T35. Min Woo Lee -1
T35. Christiaan Bezuidenhout -1
T35. Sepp Straka -1
T35. Abraham Ancer -1
T43. Yechun Yuan 0
T43. Kevin Yu 0
T43. Shane Lowry 0
T46. Nick Taylor +1
T46. Rafa Campos +1
T46. Nico Echavarria +1
T46. Matthias Schmid +1
T46. Wyndham Clark +1
T46. Gavin Green +1
T52. Adrian Meronk +2
T52. Gaganjeet Bhullar +2
T54. Viktor Hovland +3
T54. Mito Pereira +3
T54. Phachara Khongwatmai +3
57. Matthieu Pavon +4
58. Kiradech Aphibarnrat +5
59. Daniel Hillier +6
60. Camilo Villegas +8