Conion Rules for Transsexuals Eased
South Korea will lift its requirement for transsexuals to undergo group physical examinations before they are exempted from conscription, an official said Thursday.
The examinations pose the risk of breaching the rights of those who have undergone sex changes from women to men, said Kim Duk-ki, a Military Manpower Administration official.
``We will revise the law so that they will be exempted from the service without having to undergo the physical examinations, which could embarrass them in (the) open,'' Kim told reporters.
At least two years of military service is compulsory in South Korea for all able-bodied men. Those who have undergone sex change operations cannot serve, but must nonetheless undergo physical examinations.
Ten have received the surgery before being exempted since 2006, Kim said. Those who went from being men to women through a medical operation are legally female, and ineligible for armed service, he said.