Lawsuit Over Health Insurance Eligibility for Same-Sex Couples Lost... Court Rules "De Facto Marriage Not Recognized" (Comprehensive)

"The Fundamental Element of Marriage is the Union of a Man and a Woman"
Same-Sex Couples "Will Appeal and Continue to Fight"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] A same-sex couple who were stripped of their spouse's health insurance dependent status due to being of the same sex filed a lawsuit challenging the imposition of insurance premiums, but their case was dismissed.

The Administrative Court of Seoul, Administrative Division 6 (Presiding Judge Jooyoung Lee) ruled on the 7th that Mr. So lost the lawsuit he filed against the National Health Insurance Corporation seeking cancellation of the insurance premium imposition. The court stated, "Under the current legal system, it is difficult to recognize the relationship between Mr. So and his same-sex spouse as a de facto marriage," and added, "In this context, the imposition of insurance premiums is lawful." The court determined that a cohabiting community between same-sex couples, who cannot legally register their marriage under current law, cannot be regarded as a de facto marriage.

The court explained, "'Marriage,' according to precedents from the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court, as well as general societal understanding, fundamentally involves the union of a man and a woman," and "there is no basis to extend this interpretation to include same-sex unions." Furthermore, it stated, "The imposition of premiums is an administrative discretionary guideline and is unrelated to the principle of equality," and "since same-sex unions and opposite-sex unions cannot be considered essentially the same, treating them differently does not violate the constitutional principle of equality."

The court also rejected Mr. So’s argument that "the scope of de facto marriage can be interpreted more broadly in the social security domain than recognized under the Civil Code." The court said, "In the social security domain, de facto marriages that contradict the existing marriage law order are, in principle, not protected." It added, "It is difficult to see any special circumstances that would exclude the public interest in maintaining the marriage legal order simply because a person becomes a regional health insurance subscriber with a minimum obligation to pay premiums."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Immediately after the ruling, Mr. So held a press conference, saying, "There are certainly regrets about the ruling, but we will appeal, and the world will change," and added, "Since rights are not equally granted, we have no choice but to appeal and fight." He also said, "I believe a world where we can live equally is approaching." Mr. So’s spouse, Mr. Kim, also stated, "Although the court shifted the issue to the legislature, we will continue to fight until the day our relationship is recognized."

Previously, Mr. So had lived with Mr. Kim since 2017 and held a wedding ceremony in May 2019. Although their relationship was not legally recognized as a marriage, Mr. So was registered as a dependent of Mr. Kim, who was a workplace health insurance subscriber, starting in February 2020. However, in October of the same year, the National Health Insurance Corporation converted Mr. So to a regional health insurance subscriber, stating he did not meet the conditions for dependent recognition, and imposed insurance premiums. Mr. So filed a lawsuit in February last year challenging this decision.

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