But when he, like practically all South Korean men, was called back to duty as a reservist in 2014, he refused — and joined the growing number of people in the country who are questioning its legacy of mandatory military service.

In a survey conducted in May by Gallup Korea, 42 percent of South Korean adults said they supported maintaining the current conscription system — a 6 percentage point decrease from 2016.

A few years before that, in 2014, a majority — nearly 56 percent — of those polled by Monoresearch said the conscription system should be maintained.

Critics of South Korea’s conscription system have said that it has helped cultivate an institution riddled with abuse and discrimination and that it has kept men in their prime from the labor force.

Earlier this year, a Netflix show critical of conscription became an unexpected hit in South Korea.

Hong Jun-pyo, a candidate in next year’s presidential election and a lawmaker in the opposition People Power Party, said on Facebook that he had watched the show and was in favor of shifting the military to an all-volunteer force.

“What ‘D.P.’ showed was an emblematic picture of why the conscription system has to change,” said Kwon In-sook, a lawmaker in the governing Democratic Party, who added that she supported a transition to an all-volunteer military.

South Korean men who live abroad and haven’t served in the military are eligible, until they turn 36, to be drafted once they return home.

Still, South Korean officials have been carving out exemptions even while conscription rates have risen.

Myungjin Moon, 37, refused to serve in 2010 because he objected to military intervention in Iraq, where South Korea sent troops as part of the U.S.-led coalition.

An average of 600 to 800 people each year object to military service, according to the government.

Despite growing public discomfort with conscription, South Korea hasn’t arrived at a consensus on whether to change it or do away with it altogether.

Gallup Korea found that 43 percent of South Koreans supported shifting to an all-volunteer military, an 8 percentage point increase from 2016.

Ha Tae-keung, a lawmaker with the People Power Party, has suggested drafting women, a proposal that 46 percent of adults support, compared to 47 percent who don’t, according to Gallup Korea.

Even defenders of conscription say the military must take steps to make service more appealing