[Breaking] Supreme Court Allows Gender Correction for Transgender Individuals with Minor Children... Precedent Changed

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Supreme Court has ruled that transgender individuals with minor children can correct their gender on the family relationship registry.

The Supreme Court en banc (Presiding Justice Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su, Presiding Justice Park Jeong-hwa) on the 24th overturned the lower court's decision that dismissed the appeal of Mr. A, who transitioned from male to female, in the retrial of the gender correction case and remanded the case to the Seoul Family Court.

Until now, the Supreme Court allowed transgender individuals to correct their gender on the family relationship registry but held the position that transgender persons with minor children could not have their gender corrected, considering the significant negative impact on the welfare of those children.

However, with this decision, at least for transgender individuals who are not married, the court changed its stance, stating that gender correction should not be unconditionally denied solely because they have minor children.

The court stated, "For transgender individuals who are not married, gender correction should not be denied solely on the grounds that they have minor children."

It added, "In cases where transgender individuals have minor children, a comprehensive consideration of various circumstances must be made to balance the protection of the transgender individual's fundamental rights with the protection and welfare of the minor children, and a substantive judgment should be made accordingly."

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