Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/SEOUL: A South Korean court ruled in favour of a same-sex couple seeking equal health benefits, overturning the lower court’s earlier decision, which is hailed by supporters and activists as a first recognition of the legal rights of such couples.
According to CNN, the plaintiff, So Seong-wook, had previously been registered as the “spousal dependent” for state health insurance coverage, under the government-affiliated National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), according to lawyer Park Han-hee. But the NHIS revoked So’s rights as the dependent and imposed premium payments after realizing he was in a same-sex relationship, and Park told reporters after Tuesday’s hearing. South Korea doesn’t legally recognize same-sex marriage.
South Korea High Court
And his partner sued the NHIS in 2021, citing discrimination, but lost the case in the lower court. They have appealed the decision, with South Korea’s High Court ruling in their favor on Tuesday. The NHIS has two weeks to appeal against the high court’s ruling.
“After the first trial in the court and despite the loss, I said our love won is winning and would win. And today demonstrates more clearly our love has won and is winning,” So said Tuesday. “I am really happy that through this ruling, the globe would be aware of the inequality that my husband and I, and other sexual minorities in South Korea, have gone through.”
LGBTQ organizations and supporters around the globe celebrated the verdict. Korean advocacy group Gagoonet, which included the law firm representation and his partner, congratulated the couple in a statement Tuesday, saying it welcomed “the first ruling where the judiciary recognised the equal rights of same-sex couples.”
