58 conscientious objectors to be released from jail
Military servicemen walk along the streets of Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, in this file photo. / Yonhap
By Lee Suh-yoon
Fifty-eight out of 71 imprisoned conscientious objectors will be released on parole this week, the justice ministry said Monday.
The decision follows a landmark Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that acknowledged people's rights to refuse mandatory military service for religious and conscientious beliefs in acquitting a 34-year-old objector who had been sentenced to 18 months in prison by the district and high courts.
“The expected date for the release is Nov. 30 ,” a ministry official confirmed on the phone Tuesday.
They will be released on the condition of carrying out community service, the ministry said. In the past, conscientious objectors were only released on parole after serving at least 14 months, or about 80 percent of an 18-month jail term.
Thirteen conscientious objectors will remain behind bars: Eight were not eligible for parole, having completed less than six months of their sentence, while the other five were judged as not having “sincere conscientious objections.”
“An evaluation panel including the vice justice minister, a prosecution representative, and the head wardens of correctional facilities looked through each conscientious objector's court and jail records,” a ministry spokesman told The Korea Times. “Those who had conflicting testimonies pointing to the possibility of fake conscientious objection were not granted parole.”
All able-bodied Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 must fulfill 18 months of military service. Over 900 conscientious objectors are currently on trial for refusing to do so. They can be sentenced to up to three years in jail under the Military Service Act, but most are given 18 months.
Korea has jailed more conscientious objectors than any other country. Since 1950, it has put around 20,000 young men behind bars, most of them Jehovah's Witnesses.
The public seemed split over the release, with negative responses dominating the comment section under news reports. About 70 percent of Koreans said they “could not understand” conscientious objectors, in?a 2016 survey by Amnesty Korea.
Following court orders to provide conscientious objectors with alternate service options, the Ministry of National Defense is expected to submit a plan to the National Assembly this week.
The defense ministry revealed earlier this year that it is considering two different plans. The more likely plan will require conscientious objectors to sleep and work at prisons for 36 months — twice the length of military service. The other will require the same service for 27 months.
Last week, Choi Young-ae, head of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, told Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo that an alternative service more than 1.5 times the military service period would have a “punitive” character, and was thus unreasonable. She also requested that the alternative service not be limited to working inside prisons.