Justice Party on Late Byeon Hee-su's First Trial Victory: "Equality Has Won," "A Common-Sense Decision"

Court Rules "Former Sergeant Byeon Hee-su's Discharge Must Be Canceled"... Army Loses
Jang Hye-young: "A Common-Sense Decision Correcting Discriminatory Discharge Against the Times"
Kang Min-jin: "Related Systems Must Be Improved to Prevent Discrimination Against Transgender Soldiers"

The late Sergeant Byeon Hee-su of the Army saluting after expressing his position on the military's forced discharge measure in January last year.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy, Reporter Heo Midam] On the 7th, a court ruling declared that the Army's decision to discharge the late Sergeant Byeon Hee-su, who underwent gender reassignment surgery, due to physical disability and other reasons was unjust. In response, the Justice Party welcomed the decision, evaluating the court's ruling as legitimate.

Justice Party lawmaker Jang Hye-young wrote on her Facebook on the same day, "Sergeant Byeon was right," and added, "I sincerely welcome the court's extremely reasonable decision that rectifies the discriminatory discharge by the Ministry of National Defense, which goes against the times."

She continued, "Instead of concocting another unreasonable argument to appeal, I hope the Ministry of National Defense reflects on the actual situation of human rights violations and discrimination within the military," and emphasized, "Also, empowered by the court's reasonable ruling, the National Assembly must pass the Anti-Discrimination Act during this regular session."

She added, "Although this is such joyful news, we cannot smile brightly because Sergeant Byeon, who would have been the happiest about this ruling, is no longer here," and said, "Once again, I deeply pray for Sergeant Byeon's soul."

Jang Hye-young, a Justice Party lawmaker, is speaking at a party meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 28th of last month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kang Min-jin, leader of the Youth Justice Party, also wrote on Facebook, "Sergeant Byeon won," and said, "Equality won. I am happy and sad."

He stated, "Today, the Daejeon District Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed by Sergeant Byeon to cancel the discharge order," and evaluated it as "a very reasonable and natural decision guaranteeing the right of transgender soldiers to serve."

He added, "After Sergeant Byeon passed away, the Army desperately tried to invalidate the trial. They raised issues regarding the succession of the lawsuit by the bereaved family to prevent the lawsuit from proceeding," and said, "They tried to block Sergeant Byeon's victory by presenting absurd reasons, but all of the Army's obstruction efforts ended in vain."

Then, Kang pointed out, "If the Army had reinstated Sergeant Byeon to his original position promptly when the National Human Rights Commission issued an emergency relief recommendation, Sergeant Byeon would now be actively serving as a proud transgender soldier of the Republic of Korea."

He also emphasized, "The Army Chief of Staff should abandon the appeal and accept the first-instance ruling. They must take all measures to restore the honor of the deceased and provide fair compensation to the bereaved family according to the ruling," and added, "Furthermore, related systems must be thoroughly revised so that all transgender soldiers can serve without discrimination."

Finally, he concluded his post by saying, "The military, which drove a citizen who only wanted to dedicate himself as a soldier protecting the country to death, should apologize in front of Sergeant Byeon's portrait even now."

Meanwhile, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed by Sergeant Byeon against the Army Chief of Staff to cancel the forced discharge order.

The court stated, "In a situation where gender transition through gender reassignment surgery is permitted, the plaintiff's gender must be recognized as female after the surgery," and added, "Since the plaintiff applied for gender correction at the court immediately after the surgery and reported it to the military, the judgment of mental and physical disability under the Military Personnel Act should have naturally been based on the female gender."

Previously, Sergeant Byeon, who underwent gender reassignment surgery during military service in 2019, filed a lawsuit last January to cancel the Army's forced discharge after being diagnosed with Grade 3 mental and physical disability. However, just before the first hearing in March, he was found dead at his home in Cheongju, Chungbuk.

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