SEOUL • South Korean actor Yoo Ah In has been exempted from mandatory military service, his management agency said on Tuesday. The 30-year-old star of K-dramas such as Six Flying Dragons and Secret Affair was diagnosed with a bone tumour in 2015.

He also injured his shoulder while filming two action movies, Tough As Iron (2013) and Veteran (2015).

The pain had not been severe enough to hinder his everyday activities, but the tumour recently grew in size and led to his exemption by the Military Manpower Administration, reports said.

He had undergone five rounds of check-ups for enlistment, prompting public suspicion that he was trying to find an excuse for exemption, Yonhap News Agency said.

But at a press conference for the drama Chicago Typewriter in April, he quashed such talk.

"The military isn't something I can choose or not," he was quoted as saying. "I'm not even a person of power, so how would I even pull off that kind of corruption?"