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Lim Tae-hoon, head of the Military Human Rights Centre, gives a press conference in Seoul on Jan. 16 regarding a staff sergeant in the South Korean Army who underwent gender reassignment surgery. (Yonhap News)

A South Korean Army staff sergeant (noncommissioned officer) who returned to South Korea after undergoing gender reassignment surgery during her leave announced her intention of continuing to serve in the women’s military, prompting the Center for Military Human Rights Korea (CMHRK) to urge military authorities to make a forward-thinking decision to allow her to continue.

Identified by the initial “K,” the staff sergeant, who had been serving as a tank driver for an army unit in northern Gyeonggi Province, announced her intention of continuing to serve in the women’s military after undergoing gender reassignment surgery in Thailand during her leave, it was reported on Jan. 16. This marks the first time in the history of the South Korean military that a soldier on active duty has announced their intention of continuing to serve after gender reassignment surgery. The South Korean Army is planning to conduct a review shortly on whether to discharge the officer in question.

In a press conference at its education center in Seoul’s Mapo District that day, CMHRK said it “welcomes the emergence of the South Korean military’s first-ever transgender staff sergeant.”

“The South Korean military should make the decision to allow Staff Sergeant K to continue serving so that she can continue her path as a soldier,” it urged.

According to the center, K was diagnosed with gender dysphoria (the feeling that one was born into the wrong biological gender) at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in June 2019. After a long period of psychological counseling and hormone treatments, K underwent gender reassignment surgery in winter of last year with the approval of her unit. She is currently awaiting a court decision on an application to allow the amendment of the gender listed on her family register to “female.” In a mandatory review after returning to the unit, K was referred to the discharge review committee with a “Level 3 physical/psychological impairment” decision. The committee is scheduled to conduct a review on Jan. 22, although K has requested a postponement.

CMHRK described K’s intention to continue serving as “strong.”

“Once the post-surgery recovery is complete, she will be able to serve normally, and she is strongly committed to continuing on her path as a soldier, which she has dreamed of since childhood,” the center said.

“As a staff sergeant, her feelings of loyalty and service toward the state and the people are very strong, and there is no reason whatsoever to discharge her,” it added.

The center also noted the “complete absence of any clear regulations or guidelines regarding transgender soldiers in the current law.”

“Apart from medically determining whether she is capable of continuing to serve, there are no real issues,” it said.

While the “standards on the extent and assessment of illness and psychological/physical impairments” -- a Ministry of National Defense (MND) order -- lists gender dysphoria as a “sexual identity disorder,” no explicit regulations or guidelines exist for currently serving transgender soldiers or transgender persons hoping to enlist.

Confirming that many other soldiers besides K are hoping to undergo gender reassignment, CMHRK argued that the MND order should be revised to allow them to continue in the military.

“While the American Psychiatric Association amended ‘sexual identity disorder’ to ‘gender dysphoria’ in 2013, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense order continues to use the diagnostic term ‘sexual identity disorder’ and subjects transgender persons to hatred and discrimination,” the center said.

“The existence of soldiers who represent sexual minorities is not being acknowledged,” it continued.

By Kim Min-je, staff reporter

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