Prospective soldiers wearing masks have their blood taken during a medical checkup at the Seoul office of the Military Manpower Administration on Feb. 3, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 16 (Korea Bizwire) — An appellate court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal filed by a self-proclaimed socialist to reverse the conscription agency’s refusal to allow him alternative military service.
Since late 2020, the South Korea has operated an alternative military service system, allowing young men to replace their mandatory military service with an alternative three-year service for the state, on grounds of the freedom of conscience, such as religious or personal beliefs.
The 33-year-old plaintiff, Nah Dan, applied for alternative military service in 2020, calling himself a socialist, and saying South Korea’s “history made me unable to love the country” and he does not have the obligation to risk his life to save what he does not love.
The Military Manpower Administration, however, rejected his application, concluding his belief did not constitute the freedom of conscience guaranteed by the Constitution, and Nah filed an administrative suit the following year to reverse the decision.
A district court previously dismissed his suit, saying his ideology that runs counter to the Constitution cannot be recognized as grounds for the legally protected conscientious objection to mandatory military service.
On Tuesday, the Seoul High Court upheld the decision and dismissed Nah’s appeal, stating “The plaintiff is overlooking today’s changed reality and the positive sides of the military, such as protecting the lives of the public, only to stress past wrongdoings of the military and past history.”
(Yonhap)
