South Korea's supreme court ruled Thursday that moral and religious beliefs are valid reasons to refuse the country's mandatory military service, in a case that has implications for hundreds of conscientious objectors. Some 65 years after the end of the Korean War, nearly every able-bodied South Korean male between the ages of 18 and 35 must still complete around two years of military service.
Anyone refusing the call-up has usually ended up in prison for 18 months, with more than 19,000 conscientious objectors jailed since 1950, most of them Jehovah's Witnesses.
But the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a conscientious objector on Thursday, months after a landmark constitutional court ruling that authorities had to provide an alternative to joining the military. At the centre of Thursday's case is Jehovah's Witness Oh Seung-hun, who was called up in 2013 but refused. "It is the majority opinion of the supreme court that conscientious objection is... a valid reason (to refuse conscription)," said Supreme Court chief justice Kim Myeong-su.
Punishing conscientious objectors "for refusing conscription on grounds of religious faith, in other words, freedom of conscience, is deemed an excessive constraint to an individual's freedom of conscience", he added. The decision overturned a previous Supreme Court ruling 14 years ago. Oh, 34, said his refusal stemmed from biblical teachings.
"The bible says that everyone who uses a sword will be killed by a sword," Oh told AFP. "I expected to suffer for objecting to conscription but I thought the pain I would feel by not listening to my inner voice would be far worse," he added. Jehovah's Witnesses welcomed the ruling, calling it a "huge step forward in ending this policy of imprisoning our fellow believers".
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