hankyoreh

Conscientious objectors in South Korea can be jailed for one year and six months for refusing to perform military service. Since last year

A man surnamed Park, 24, who refused to perform his military service for religious reasons, was notified by the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) that his personal information was being added to a public registry of draft dodgers this year. In August, Park was acquitted on charges of violating the Military Service Act by the eastern branch of the Busan District Court, which granted him status as a conscientious objector, based on the constitutional freedom of conscience.

“I thought it was unjust for the Military Manpower Administration to stigmatize me as a draft dodger and to publish my personal information despite the fact that several courts have concluded that religion is a legitimate reason for refusing to serve and have been acquitting conscientious objectors. I want the government to let me give back to society through an alternate service program because I can’t do my military service, but I’m being treated the same as people who simply want to shirk their military service,” Park said in a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh on Dec. 20.

A conscientious objector surnamed Kwon, 22, who is professing his innocence in the Supreme Court (he was acquitted by a district court but that verdict was overturned on appeal) was also notified that his personal information will be made public, just like Park’s. “I think I have a legitimate reason for not enrolling because, since a young age, I’ve been determined to live according to the Biblical teaching to love your neighbor as yourself and to not commit murder. Conscientious behavior ought to be protected, and it’s wrong for us to be treated like other criminals,” Kwon said.

On Dec. 21, the MMA published the personal information of 266 draft dodgers on its website. Since last year, the Military Service Act has mandated that a registry be kept identifying those who refuse to report for service without a legitimate reason. But critics have pointed out that presenting those who refuse to serve because of their pacifism or religious beliefs as if they were deliberate draft dodgers subjects them to double punishment.

Furthermore, publishing the personal information of conscientious objectors is unlikely to achieve the original purpose of the registry – that is, incentivizing draft dodgers to perform their military service. Furthermore, publishing their personal information runs contrary to a 2015 recommendation by the UN Human Rights Committee that expressed concerns about the fact that conscientious objectors were being prosecuted as criminals in South Korea and that their personal information ought to be protected.

When the MMA published the personal information of conscientious objectors on its website in Dec. 2016, 105 individuals filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Administrative Court asking for the publication decision to be reversed and another lawsuit asking for a stay of execution on the publication until the court made its decision in the first case. In May, the sixth division of the Seoul Administrative Court (with Hon. Kim Jeong-suk presiding) ruled that the publication of their personal information should be halted until the final legal decision, citing “concerns that irreparable damages could be incurred.”

Despite the stay of execution ordered by the court, the MMA included conscientious objectors among the draft dodgers whose personal information was published once again this year. In response, 252 individuals filed the same lawsuit once again. Given the repeated acquittals of conscientious objectors by district courts this year, 26 individuals who have been acquitted, including Park and Kwon, took part in the lawsuit. On Dec. 19, the second division of the Seoul Administrative Court (with Hon. Yun Gyeong-a presiding) once again ruled that the publication of the plaintiffs’ personal information should be halted until the court makes its ruling.

“Even though the courts have repeatedly accepted the petition for a stay of execution on the publication of personal information, the Military Manpower Administration has not changed its attitude. The courts keep acquitting people, and we’re watching for a decision by the Constitutional Court. Once personal information is made public, it can cause great damage, so these people’s personal information should not be thoughtlessly released,” said Kim Jun-u, the attorney who is representing the conscientious objectors in this lawsuit.

By Kim Min-kyung, staff reporter

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