Staff Sergeant Byun Hui-su had wanted a transfer to the military’s female corps after undergoing the surgery, but was dismissed in January 2020 on grounds that gender reassignment rendered her “disabled” and unfit for service.
Byun went to court seeking reinstatement, but she took her own life in March before the case was resolved. Regardless of her death, the outcome of the case is expected to hold implications for the military’s policy on sexual minorities.
The Daejeon District Court said that as Byun’s changed gender was already legally recognised, the army should have used standards applied to women to determine her fitness to serve. “When based on standards of women, there are no mental or physical disability grounds for dismissal,”