Court rules gender-dysphoric plaintiff exempt from reserve duty

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A biological man who identifies as a woman must be exempted from reserve duty even if the individual has already served in the military, Gwangju District Court ruled on Sunday.

The court ruled in favor of a plaintiff, who filed a lawsuit against the Military Manpower Administration that required the plaintiff to continue taking part in reserve forces training after being diagnosed with gender dysphoria. This condition occurs when a person’s gender identity differs from their biological sex.

The plaintiff began mandatory military service with the ROK Army in January 2016 and served until June 2017, when the individual was reassigned to a social work role after struggling to adjust to the environment.

After completing the alternative service in 2018, the plaintiff was medically diagnosed with gender dysphoria in June 2021. The next year, the plaintiff made a demand to the agency to be exempted from training duty for reserve forces, only to be rejected.

But the bone of contention was not whether the agency or the court must acknowledge the plaintiff as a woman; rather, it was about whether the plaintiff's physical and mental status meet the required conditions for that duty under the military laws and guidelines.

Given the medical diagnosis and treatment the plaintiff received, such as hormone injections, the plaintiff insisted on being classified as Grade 5, a physical and mental status that does not require reserve duty, saying “high-level gender incongruence” is among the conditions applicable.

The plaintiff also pointed out that the agency’s decision is inconsistent with previous cases, saying many others diagnosed with similar medical conditions were exempted from such duty.

The court mostly accepted the plaintiff's claims.

“The plaintiff already served in the military and completed duty as a social worker. Given this, it would be unreasonable to say that the plaintiff has received hormone injections for two years only to avoid training duty for reserve forces,” the court said.