After a long battle, The South Korean high court judgment insurance gave judgement in favour of same-sex relationships under the national.
This is the first legal recognition of same-sex in South Korea.
The county is battling with sexual inequalities for years. There has been harsh international criticism on the same for the country.
The military penal code says that the. Sexual intercourse between two men is punishable and unlawful. The person will be jailed for two years. A lot of people were arrested under this penal code.
The overturn of the lower court judgement
Last month, the lower court of South Korea rejected the spousal dependent” for state health insurance coverage. This was a provision under the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS). The scheme has a provision under which it provided insurance benefits to the partners also. This provision was made in keeping heterosexual relationships. However, it was defined in the insurance.
The agency vs the plaintiff Seong uk
The plaintiff was 32-year-old Seong-uk sued who is in a same-sex relationship under the National Health Insurance Service in 2021, the agency revoked his status as a dependent to his partner Kim Yong-min.
They even got married publicly in 2019. The agency accepted to give them benefits as consensual partners. The couple’s news got viral in different media channels in the country.
Surprisingly after some time, The agency went back and said that the decision was a mistake. NHIS revoke the insurance and imposed the money and payments on the couple. The reason was that they were a sex couple. This was a 2021 case and the lower court gave the judgement, not in their favour.
Initially, the lower court ruled in favour of the agency in 2021, saying same-sex unions are not recognised as the same as heterosexual unions.
Couple appeals to the High court of South Korea
They further appealed the decision to the High Court of South Korea. This time the high court of the country ruled in their favour. The decisions can be overturned again. If the NHIS decides to appeal to the higher authority.
The court ruled that the essence is the same in both relationships. Therefore, it would be discriminatory treatment to have different definitions for other sexual orientations.
Now, The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) can have two weeks to appeal the high court decision.
The plaintiff reacted happily to the judgement calling that “our love won”. The plaintiff also added that their relationship also got recognised legally.
There is a big celebration for LGBTQ activists and people. People came on roads and called it the win of love. The people demonstrated placards on the streets writing love wins!
Celebrations all over the world
The global community showed their love and happiness all over social media and the internet. People around the world are celebrating the victory and the decision.
Amnesty International reacted to the judgement. They praised the saying it “moves South Korea closer to achieving marriage equality” and “offers hope that prejudice can be overcome.”
This is just a legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Still, there is no legal recognition of same-sex marriage. The activists and people of South Korea are looking forward to recognising same-sex marriage.
Still, there is a long battle to fight for same-sex equality. As the inequalities against sexual orientation have existed for years.
