South Korea court upholds law criminalizing same-sex relations in military service – JURIST

The Constitutional Court of South Korea upheld a law for the fourth time on Thursday that criminalizes same-sex relations in the military. The court, which is one of the highest in South Korea, claimed that same-sex activities might undermine discipline and harm the combat capabilities of the military.

According to Article 92-6 of the Military Criminal Act of South Korea, a person who commits “indecent acts” with any military member of the same sex shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than two years. Boram Jang, an East Asia researcher at Amnesty International, told the Guardian it was “a distressing setback in the decades-long struggle for equality in the country”, and it “underscore[s] the widespread prejudice experienced by LGBTI people in South Korea.” Human rights groups have argued that it does not comply with international human rights obligations.

Several of South Korea’s allies have repealed provisions similar to Article 92-6 of the Military Act of South Korea in order to align with international obligations to protect against the discrimination of LGBTQ+ people. For instance, from 1993 to 2011, the US implemented the “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) policy on military service, which prohibited queer people from disclosing their sexual orientation or speaking about any same-sex relationships. In 2011, the US Congress repealed DADT policy and allowed queer people to openly serve in the country’s military. What’s more, the UK repealed the law banning on gay people serving in the military in 2000 “in response to the European court’s judgement in Jeanette and Graham’s case.”