Human Rights Commission Recommends Cancellation of Transgender NCO Discharge... Army States "It Was Legal"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] It has been revealed belatedly that the National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommended the cancellation of the forced discharge of former Army Corporal Byeon Hee-soo, who underwent gender reassignment surgery during military service, deeming the discharge unfair.

According to the Military Human Rights Center on the 1st, the Human Rights Commission recognized on December 14 last year through a plenary session that the Army's forced discharge of transgender soldier Corporal Byeon constituted a human rights violation and recommended the Chief of Staff of the Army to cancel the discharge. The Commission also recommended the Minister of National Defense to revise related systems to prevent recurrence of such cases.

Former Corporal Byeon, serving as an Army corporal, underwent gender reassignment surgery from male to female in November 2019 during military service. She wished to continue serving in the military, but the Army gave her a 'Grade 3 mental and physical disability' assessment and decided on forced discharge on January 22 last year. At that time, two days before the discharge review, on January 20 last year, Byeon filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission and simultaneously submitted an urgent relief request to suspend the unfair discharge review. The Commission issued an urgent relief decision the next day, January 21, recommending the Army Headquarters postpone the discharge review committee meeting by three months, but the Army proceeded with the discharge review.

In its decision document, the Human Rights Commission pointed out that the Army's decision infringed on the freedom to perform one's occupation, stating, "The Army arbitrarily interpreted gender reassignment surgery as a mental and physical disability without clear legal grounds and discharged the victim." It also noted, "There is no basis to consider former Corporal Byeon's health condition as 'unsuitable for active duty.'

Furthermore, the Commission emphasized the need for institutional improvement to the military authorities. It stated, "This discharge case is unprecedented and largely stems from legislative deficiencies on the part of the military authorities," adding, "It is necessary to comprehensively review the current regulatory shortcomings and overseas cases to devise improvement measures." The Military Human Rights Center welcomed the Commission's decision, saying, "We actively welcome the Human Rights Commission's decision and hope the Ministry of National Defense will accept the recommendation now and rectify this shameful mistake."

However, despite the Commission's recommendation, the Army maintains its position that there was no problem with the discharge decision regarding former Corporal Byeon. An Army official said, "While we respect the intent of the Human Rights Commission's judgment and recommendation, the discharge of the individual was a lawful administrative action carried out properly according to relevant laws and regulations," adding, "Since an administrative lawsuit regarding this case is currently underway, necessary measures will be taken based on the outcome."

Former Corporal Byeon's side filed a personnel appeal with the Army Headquarters in July last year requesting a re-examination of the discharge decision, which was dismissed. Subsequently, in August of the same year, they filed an administrative lawsuit at the Daejeon District Court seeking cancellation of the discharge decision, and the litigation process is currently ongoing.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.