South Korean Military Discharges Transgender Soldier
Jeong Kyeong-doo is the minister of the Defense Ministry, from which a military panel ruled to discharge Byun Hee-soo. (Department of Denfese)
The military panel of South Korea’s Defense Ministry ruled to discharge Staff Sergeant Byun Hee-soo, a transgender soldier, on January 22, according to BBC. After the military panel announced their decision, Byun attended a news conference at the Center for Military Human Rights Korea, where she revealed her identity and discussed her experience.
Byun registered in the military as a man in 2017. At the conference, she called military service her childhood dream. “I want to show that I can protect the nation as an excellent soldier regardless of my gender identity,” she said, according to BBC. “Please allow me the opportunity.”
The Defense Ministry claimed that the military panel based their decision on Byun’s medical records, not her gender identity, the Wall Street Journal reports. They cited South Korea’s military code, which classifies “removing or damaging one’s genitals” as a sign of mental instability, as the reason that prompted the review of Byun’s ability to serve.
Challenging this claim, Lim Tae-hoon, the leader of the military rights center, pointed out how the military did not provide Byun the typical three-months’ notice and instead discharged her immediately.
Lim argued that by doing this, the military sent the implicit message that it “cannot accept the presence of transgender people in the armed forces.”
Byun had gender reassignment surgery last year in Thailand after suffering from gender dysphoria and mental health issues, reports BBC. “I thought I would finish serving in the army and then go through the transition surgery and then re-enter the army as a female soldier. But my depression got too severe,” she said.
Members of the LGBT community in South Korea regard Byun and her experience as a “test case” for determining the conservative country’s social, legal, and institutional attitudes and approaches toward gay and transgender individuals, the Wall Street Journal says.
South Korea is one of the few countries that continues to conscript men for its military; women, while not conscripted, can volunteer to serve. In the military, the punishment for same-sex relations among members is up to two years of imprisonment.
Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have reported multiple instances of gay soldiers experiencing acts of abuse or discrimination.
Newsis, a mainstream news outlet in South Korea, reported on this issue, citing popular disapproval among the Korean public. Comments on the online report mention the challenges for other women in the military who would feel uncomfortable sharing bathrooms and living spaces with a transgender woman.
Byun affirmed that she will challenge the decision “until the end, to the Supreme Court,” and she expressed her determination to fight for the opportunity to serve in the army as a transgender woman.