SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) on Thursday recommended recognizing a transgender soldier, who died in an apparent suicide after forcible discharge from service, as having died in the line of duty. The Army earlier decided to classify the death of the soldier, Byun Hee-soo, as a [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — The Army has decided not to recognize Byun Hee-soo, a transgender soldier in her 20s who was found dead last year after being forcibly discharged from service, as having died in the line of duty, military authorities said Thursday. In a committee meeting held earlier in the day, the [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The justice ministry on Friday ordered the military to drop its plan to challenge a court ruling that said it was unjust for the military to discharge a transgender soldier over her gender reassignment surgery. Justice Minister Park Beom-kye accepted a recommendation from an advising committee on administrative suits [...]
DAEJEON/SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — A court ruled Thursday in favor of a deceased transgender solider in a suit filed to get the Army’s decision to discharge her repealed, a landmark ruling that could have deep repercussions in the way South Korean society treats sexual minorities. The Daejeon District Court said that the military [...]
SEOUL, April 14 (Korea Bizwire) – In June 2019, a Seoul-based human rights advocacy group received a call from an Army tank driver seeking advice on how to remain in the military after going through sex change surgery. The group advised then staff sergeant Byun Hee-soo to think twice before making a decision. But Byun, [...]
SEOUL, March 15 (Korea Bizwire) — The family of Byun Hee-soo, a transgender former soldier who was forcibly discharged from the Army last year, will press ahead with an administrative lawsuit she had filed against the Army before her death, an advocacy group said Monday. Byun’s attorneys and family decided on Wednesday to apply for [...]
SEOUL, March 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Byun hee-soo, a 23-year-old transgender former soldier who was forcibly discharged from the Army last year, was found dead at her home, police said Wednesday. A mental health counselor in her neighborhood in Cheongju, 150 kilometers south of Seoul, called 119 to report that Byun had not been reachable [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s human rights watchdog said on Friday that the Army’s forced discharge of a sergeant who underwent a sex reassignment surgery while serving in the military was an infringement of human rights by a public authority. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) said its plenary meeting [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – A former South Korean solider, who was forcibly discharged after a sex reassignment surgery, on Tuesday filed an administrative suit against the Army’s decision, saying it was unconstitutional. Byun Hee-soo, 22, who had the rank of staff sergeant, underwent the operation in Thailand last year and expressed desire to [...]
SEOUL, July 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The Army decided not to allow a former noncommissioned officer, who was forcibly discharged after sex reassignment surgery, to return to the military, officials said Friday. Byun Hee-soo, 22, filed the petition with the Army in February after a military committee ruled the previous month, based on a medical [...]