Jo Kwon clarified that he did not receive special treatment and defended celebrity soldiers who are accused of receiving preferential treatment in the military. 

He appeared on the May 4 episode of KBS2TV's 'Problem Child In The House' and talked about his time in the military saying he had gone to the military headquarters to complain that he is having a difficult time about the fact that he had to use honorifics and polite words to a senior officer who was 9 years younger than him. It was reported that after the complaint, they bent the rules for Jo Kwon. However, after the broadcast, one of his military colleagues posted that Jo Kwon didn't go to headquarters himself to fix the problems. There was a meeting between soldiers and headquarter seniors once a week, and those issues were handled during this time.

 Jo Kwon's fellow soldiers were quick to come to his defense, saying that the allegations weren't true and that Jo Kwon was a great fellow soldier and not to misunderstand. Jo Kwon took to Instagram stories shortly after to make the following statement: 

"Due to the overwhelming interest in me, I have finally come to terms with ending my military service. Whether I went early or late, I discharged healthily and proudly. I made memories that cannot be recreated with the superiors of the 11th Division's Hwarang Headquarters military band, my juniors, and seniors, as well as my fellow soldiers. It's not about who suffered more or less, but to fulfill our military obligations to the best of our abilities as soldiers. Whether that's in the military band, infantry, cooking staff, drivers, or performing in the musical as a celebrity, I wanted to let you know that there is no soldier who didn't struggle and received special privileges. To say that I did this much so you clearly got special privileges is disgusting though. I don't know how many times I was asked why I wasn't tan while training even though I enlisted in the heatwave. I am paler than other people and my skin doesn't tan but burns. The military is a diverse place with different personalities from all parts of Korea that leads to that creates camaraderie. I think there are misunderstood points due to my broadcast, and I think I did well during my service. I couldn't help but upload this after feeling emotional seeing the other posts made by my classmates and superiors. Think whatever you want. I'm used to people judging based on what they only see so I'm fine. I'm just really thankful to my fellow soldiers who served with me. Hwarang!"