Byun Hui-su, a staff sergeant who underwent gender assignment surgery, was dismissed from the military due to 'mental and physical disability.'
For many South Koreans, the mandatory 21-month military service required of all men is an onerous obligation born of the country’s precarious reality of abutting North Korea and its million-man army. Many try to postpone their service, apply for plum assignments or avoid it altogether.
The army’s swift decision to boot the transgender soldier from its ranks comes despite protests from advocates and a national human rights commission recommendation that the case be postponed, and has ignited fierce debate in a country that remains largely socially conservative and where military service is a perennial point of contention in gender issues.Byun’s unprecedented case thrusts South Korea into the forefront of an issue that has been controversial in the U.S.
South Korean authorities said that while the military has no specific regulations banning transgender service members or concerning a soldier’s transition, it considers the removal of genitals a disability necessitating the discharge decision. South Korea’s military similarly does not preclude gay individuals from serving, but has been accused of rooting them out under a law banning sodomy, in some cases for consensual sex that took place off-duty and off-base.
She said that after receiving counseling and mental health treatment through the military, she began receiving hormonal therapy last spring. In August, she came out to superiors in her unit, realizing she needed to be honest with herself and those around her to be a good soldier, she said.
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