In September 2019, Byun Hee-Soo, who was a staff sergeant serving in the Korean Army, received approval to take leave in order to go to a foreign country. Byun underwent sex reassignment surgery (male to female) in Thailand and returned to Korea. Then she submitted an application to a civilian court to legally revise her legal gender designation, and declared that she wanted to continue to serve as a female soldier.

In January 2020, Army Headquarters convened a committee to deliberate on her discharge. They decided to turn down her request to return to her original duty. They gave their reason, referring to her Level 3 Disability, which was given to her by a military hospital. She was discharged the next day, on the 23rd of January.

Ms. Byun petitioned against her forced discharge and (after that petition was dismissed) filed an administrative lawsuit. This lawsuit was going to begin in April 2021, yet she was found dead at her house in March 2021.

Public opinion is polarized on this issue and it is divided between whether this case should be seen as that of an individual case or more broadly of LGBTQ rights. But like all other things in our lives, it’s hard to tell which side is 100% right and which is not. So, here are the two points of views from both sides.

*LGBTQ is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.

PROS

From the obligatory inspection that she went through after she had her surgery, Ms. Byun was diagnosed with a Level 3 disability for two reasons: penis loss and defects of both testicles. According to their ratings of mental and physical disabilities in the Army, a person who removed both testicles is treated the same as one whose nerves are completely paralyzed, as described in Level 3.

The authorities concerned said that her discharge was not because of her gender identity, but because of the damage of her body parts since it was hard for her to execute her original duties. They also said that this decision was unrelated to her sex reassignment and that a rule to discharge someone because he/she got the sex reassignment surgery does not exist.

Regardless of Ms. Byun’s declaration that she wanted to serve as a female soldier, there was a view that a change in her duty is inevitable as her body was changed and as she was originally enlisted as a male soldier. In this regard, there was public opinion that other soldiers could feel uncomfortable with her when she serves either way - as a female or male soldier - with them.

It was practically impossible for her to rejoin as a female soldier since there was no relative rule to it. Yet, the Army had made clear that it would not consider making new rules regarding this matter.

The Army also said when it introduces a new system or revises existing rules, it takes into serious consideration how this change will affect its combat power or the unity of the military organization, and how the change would be accepted in the entire society. In this regard, the Army said that new rules for transgender soldiers’ enlistment and service is not in great need at this point.

CONS

The surgery she went through is not something that was intended to harm her body. If the Army’s reason for her discharge was the possibility of hardship while on duty because of some damage to her body parts, the proper next step would be to thoroughly examine her task performance ability. Instead, the Army just went ahead with her discharge on the basis of existing rules in the Army. If this is the first case of a transgender soldier in the Korean Army, what existing rule did it refer to? The fact is, there is no proper rule regarding transgender soldiers and their service under the current military service law shows that there wasn’t any discussion about transgendered people until now. And Byun Hee-Soo was forcibly discharged by referring to that inadequate law.

Things for other LGBTQs are not much different from this case. Currently, all they can do about their military service is to get a disapproval from the Army so that they cannot enlist in accordance with the ‘Rules for Physical Examination for Enlisting’. According to this rule, they will be categorized as a gender identity issue and viewed that ‘the person might cause considerable disruption while serving in the Army.’

Comments on Her Discharge from other Female Soldiers

After this incident was disclosed to the public, this is how female soldiers, the people that she might have served with, commented:

“After the surgery, the sergeant major was a woman both outwardly and inwardly. I don’t think there would’ve been any difficulties training with her as a fellow soldier. Most of my fellow soldiers are also open-minded to gender issues like me.”

“People who feel uncomfortable with training with transgender soldiers also need to be respected. After her surgery to become a woman, trying to fix the military rules for her own sake was a selfish act.”

“We serve with male soldiers and we face many ugly situations while we’re training together, so I don’t think she would have created an inconvenience to us. There is a change in our society with how we should view transgender soldiers, so it’s time that the Army should accept and adapt to these changes.”

“One cannot change their military position just because they want to. Since Byun Hee-Soo joined the Army as a male, it is proper that she re-enlist in the Army.”

Both sides’ opinions leave something to be desired. Ms. Byun had pressed home her point without careful consideration for the Army’s current state of recognition about sexual minorities, while the Army cannot escape the criticism that there was insufficient discussion regarding sexual minorities. However, it has become clear that it’s time for the Korean Army to discuss how it should better treat sexual minorities.

Kim Jae Hun, Kim MinJi  woormi7140@gmail.com / alstbvj@naver.com

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