As Rain's special treatment in the army is under investigation, the celebrity recruits are now under increased scrutiny.

Recently, alleged photos of special treatment for celebrities surfaced online under the title, 'The real identity of the celebrity recruits'. The photos were taken in August where the celebrity recruits attended an event in Ullungdo. Even though they were supposedly on duty, all of them had taken off their uniforms. The photos show many violations as some of the celebrities can be seen wearing flip-flops, smoking, holding designer travel bags and even having their cell phones. Furthermore, the regular non-celebrity soldiers nearby were still in full uniform, providing a stark contrast.

Some netizens were furious after they saw the photos, writing, "Are they really soldiers? Who do they think they are...", "How can they proudly say they went to the army after this?", and "Why do celebrity recruits even exist?".

A representative from the army explained, "The celebrity recruits were dispatched to the Ministry of Defense from August 7th to the 12th. The PR recruits under the Ministry of Defense have uniforms, but these men are from a different branch and so they do not have uniforms. We believe why that is why they were dressed casually."

Another representative said, "They were dispatched to Ullungdo in August. Because they did not have a leader and the hosts requested the men wear suits, so they all brought separate clothes and items from home. They wore uniforms during the event, but because it was hot in August, they were granted permission to wear casual clothing during their off period. They must have been caught on camera during that brief time. Their sunglasses are items they took from home, and the they took their cellphones to report and they returned it afterwards."

However, the explanation only fueled more negativity. People fumed, "Getting permission to wear casual clothing is called receiving special treatment", "If it was so hot that they were given permission to wear regular clothing, what about the regular non-celebrity soldiers behind them?", and "We need to just get rid of celebrity recruits".

Source: Herald Corp and Star News