Military Officials To Decide Fate Of South Korea’s First Transgender Soldier
SOUTH KOREA’S TRANSGENDER SOLDIER – The first-ever case in South Korea, military officials would decide if a soldier who took gender reassignment surgery would be discharged from the military.
The South Korean military bans transgender people from joining their ranks. However, they have no specific regulations regarding soldiers who had sex-change operations done during their service.
Based on an article from Inquirer, the non-commissioned officer joined the ranks of the Korean Military as a man. But, he underwent a sex change operation last year.
Currently, the soldier is at a military-run hospital. According to the army spokesman Jeon Ha Guy and Defence Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyunsoo, this is the first time an active soldier was referred to a military panel in this context.
As per the article, a rights organization stated they have given counselling to the solider. In addition, the staff sergeant has undergone physiological treatment and hormone therapy for an extended period.
In a statement from the Seoul-based Center for Military Human Rights, they said that they hope for a “forward-looking” decision. The military panel would be held on next Wednesday.
Although views on sexuality and gender issues in South Korea have been slowly progressing, there is still a strong bias against it.
However, there are now several gay-themed movies and TV dramas that became hits and other transgender entertainers have basked in the spotlight in recent years.
Still, activists state that transgender people from South Korea are still facing harassment, abuse, and insults.
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