SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — A man who chose not to serve in the military based on his religious beliefs has been acquitted of the charges he faced. The Daejeon District Court overruled the appeal from the prosecution that charged a 26-year-old man with violation of the Military Service Act and pronounced him to [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — The government has allowed a convicted conscientious objector to replace his military service duty with an alternative service for the first time, a decision suggesting a softening of the government’s stance on the issue. Jeong Wook, who was sentenced to a one-year jail term for draft dodging and served [...]
SEOUL, June 24 (Korea Bizwire) — The top court on Thursday confirmed a not-guilty verdict for a conscientious objector who avoided his mandatory military service due to personal beliefs, in the first case of its kind. The Supreme Court upheld the appellate court’s acquittal of the man, a self-identifying “queer feminist,” indicted on charges of [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – In the first ruling of its kind, South Korea’s top court on Thursday upheld lower courts’ acquittal of a man charged with refusing to fulfill mandatory reservist duty for nonreligious reasons. The Supreme Court approved lower courts’ verdicts of not guilty for the man indicted for violating the Homeland [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has approved a male citizen’s request to substitute his mandatory military service for other public service due to his personal beliefs, marking the first such case other than those citing religious reasons, the military manpower agency said Wednesday. By law, all able-bodied South Korean men must carry [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — An appeals court has ruled in favor of a non-religious conscientious objector who was indicted for dodging the draft. The Uijeongbu District Court said Monday that it overturned a lower court ruling in the case of a man who was indicted for violation of the nation’s military service law. [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — A Jehovah’s Witness who was given a prison sentence at his first court trial for conscientiously objecting to military service was acquitted yesterday following an appeal. A local court in Changwon found a 24-year-old man not guilty on appeal after he was sentences to 18 months in prison in [...]
SEOUL, May 16 (Korea Bizwire) – Under South Korean constitutional law, able-bodied young men must serve in the military as part of the country’s national defense strategy. On May 16, however, a man was acquitted by Judge Lee Seung-hoon at the Suwon District Court for objecting to military service. The man, who objected to serving in [...]
CHEONGJU, South Korea, Jan. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – For the first time in the 13 years since 2004, a South Korean court has ruled that a reservist who said no to reserve training is innocent. Judge Lee Hyung-gul from the Cheongju District Court ruled Sunday that a 34-year-old man identified as Yoo was innocent of [...]
GWANGJU, Oct. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – The first verdict in a case of conscientious objection due to religious beliefs has been made at the Gwangju District Court of Appeal, with the judge declaring the defendant innocent of the charges. The ruling is expected to trigger controversy over the implementation of alternative forms of mandatory service. [...]