Conscientious objection in South Korea information
While the Republic of Korea's Constitution states that all citizens, regardless of gender, sex, political or religious affiliation, should be afforded equal treatment under the law, some scholars, such as Intaek Hwang, claim that the culture of militarism is so pervasive that Conscientious Objectors are stripped of the rights discussed in the Constitution when universal male conscription became the law in 1948.[1] A Conscientious Objector is defined as "an individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience and or religion" by the United Nation's Human Rights Commission.[2] Since the signing of the Conscription Law in 1949, stating that every male 18 years of age must serve in the military, Conscientious Objectors, when found, are arrested and subject to violent punishments.[3]
Post 1949, there have been at least 400,000 Conscientious Objectors and draft evaders recorded and over 20,000 have been criminalized and subject to brutal treatment.[4] In South Korea, the majority of Conscientious Objectors are part of Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists. However, in the early 2000s, more men claimed to be a Conscientious Objector for their political ideologies, instead of religious affiliations.[5] While there is not an official list, there have been cases in which Conscientious Objectors have died because of their injuries sustained in prison. One such example is the case of three men, Chong-Sik Kim, Chung-Gil Lee, and Sang-Bok Jeong. Each of these men faced brutal beatings and starvation during their prison sentence, leading to their deaths in 1975 and 1976.[4]
Until the early 2000s the discourse about Conscientious Objectors amongst South Korean media outlets and political parties was scarce. The culture of militarism was pervasive amongst the government and civilians alike as the nation dealt with international wars and conflicts with North Korea. Post 2001, activists groups such as World Without Wars began fighting against the criminalization of Conscientious Objectors. In November 2018, for the first time in South Korean history, the Constitutional Court ruled that the military must provide an alternative service to those who object to violence and released fifty seven imprisoned Conscientious Objectors.[6]
^Hwang, Ihntaek (2018-09-02). "Militarising National Security through Criminalisation of Conscientious Objectors to Conscription in South Korea". Critical Studies on Security. 6 (3): 296–311. doi:10.1080/21624887.2018.1424986. ISSN 2162-4887. S2CID 158920768.
^"OHCHR | Conscientious objection to military service". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
^"Statutes of the Republic of Korea". elaw.klri.re.kr. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
^ abJung, Youngoh (2014). "The Normalization of Universal Male Conscription in South Korean Society and the State Regulation of Draft Evasion and Conscientious Objection: 1950–1993". Trans-Humanities Journal. 7 (3): 125–161. doi:10.1353/trh.2014.0006. ISSN 2383-9899. S2CID 146566198.
^Vladimir, Tikhonov (March 16, 2009). "Militarism and Anti-militarism in South Korea: "Militarized Masculinity" and the Conscientious Objector Movement". Asia-Pacific Journal. 7 (12).
^"South Korea releases 57 conscientious objectors after landmark ruling on military service". Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
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