Reform Party Floor Leader Rep. Cheon Ha-ram speaks at a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on June 29. (Yonhap) Reform Party Floor Leader Rep. Cheon Ha-ram on Tuesday upped the attack against Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, raising questions over Ahn's military service and against military reform measures.According to Cheon, the Defense Counterintelligence Command denied his request of information regarding allegations of irregularities in Ahn's military service. Writing on his Facebook account, Cheon said that the DCC cited lack of personnel to handle the request as all available employees were engaged in procedures related to the dismantling of the unit. The unit is currently being restructured as party of military reform measures drawn up in response to the Dec. 3, 2024, martial law fallout. It has been alleged that Ahn had gone AWOL for a period during his time as a short-term service soldier from 1983 to 1985. The term "short-term service" refers to a now-defunct system that allowed some soldiers to commute to their posts rather than having to reside at the base.As the dismantling had been decided under Ahn's leadership in June, Cheon raised questions about why Ahn would want to dismantle the organization that might hold documents related to his military service."This isn't some everyday record. It concerns accusations that the defense minister deserted his post," Cheon wrote. "Is the DCC using its dismantling as an excuse to conceal relevant records?"The allegations against Ahn came to light in July 2025, during Ahn's National Assembly confirmation hearing, where opposition lawmakers questioned why he served for 22 months as a short-term service soldier — eight months longer than the standard 14-month term at the time.Ahn said during the hearing that the discrepancy was the result of a decades-old administrative error.He said he was discharged after completing 14 months, but was later contacted by his former unit and instructed to complete several additional days of service during a university vacation.Earlier this month, the controversy resurfaced after Kim Young-soo, a retired Navy major and head of the Defense Rights Institute, held a press conference and disclosed details of the alleged incident.The Ministry of National Defense has rejected the allegation as "clearly false." It added that Ahn's military records contain inaccuracies that could cause further misunderstanding if released."When Ahn was a National Defense Committee member, he requested the military records of all of the contemporary defense ministers he questioned at that time," Cheon said. "Why can't he, the very one who called to scrutinize reviews of other's military records, disclose his own?"Cheon again called on Ahn to release his military records, while also pointing to a national petition seeking Ahn's impeachment that has received more than 300,000 signatures."How are the active-duty soldiers supposed to look up to a defense minister who cannot even clear his own allegations on military service?" Cheon added.