Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Gay couple urges top court to uphold equal health insurance benefits for same-sex partnerships
Kim Yong-min, fourth from left, and his partner So Sung-uk, third from right, hold a press conference with activists and human rights lawyers in Seoul on Wednesday, calling for the Supreme Court to rule in favor of equal state benefits for same-sex couples. Courtesy of Marriage for All
By Lee Hae-rin
A gay couple urged Korea's Supreme Court to rule in favor of offering equal state benefits for same-sex couples and stop discrimination based on sexual orientation, Wednesday, on the first anniversary of the landmark appellate ruling in favor of non-heterosexual couples' eligibility to receive spousal health insurance benefits.
"It was on this day last year … that a Korean court recognized for the first time the relationships of sexual minorities who are already living together as a family," Kim Yong-min, the plaintiff, said during a press conference in front of the Supreme Court in Seoul.
Kim's partner, So Sung-uk, filed an administrative lawsuit against the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) in January 2021 after it canceled So's status as Kim's dependent for the state health insurance, citing an "administrative error."
Kim could register So as his dependent in February 2020, and the couple received media attention a year later for being the first known same-sex couple to do so in Korea.
In a landmark ruling last year, the Seoul High Court sided with the couple and ordered the NHIS to nullify its cancellation of So's dependent status.
The ruling, which said the judiciary has the responsibility to protect the rights of marginalized groups in society, was Korea's first to acknowledge systemic discrimination against same-sex couples, according to the couple's attorney, Kim Ji-rim.
Although the court did not recognize Kim and So as common-law partners, it said they are "essentially no different from civil marriage couples" and that it is discriminatory to exclude same-sex couples from spousal benefits given to heterosexual couples.
So Sung-uk and his partner Kim Yong-min, plaintiffs of a lawsuit against the National Health Insurance Service calling for equal state benefits for same-sex couples, celebrate after the Seoul High Court ruled in favor of the couple on Feb. 21, 2023. Newsis
The NHIS, however, challenged the decision and took the case to the Supreme Court, which has yet to make a ruling.
"As a result, despite the high court's progressive decision, nothing has changed in our lives. We cannot register each other as dependents for health insurance and we live in constant anxiety about what may happen in the absence of a system that can protect our relationship," Kim Yong-min said.
Amnesty International submitted a legal opinion to the Supreme Court on Feb. 5 and recommended granting equal social security benefits to same-sex couples, according to the group's campaign manager, Myung Hee-su.
Several United Nations-affiliated organizations and international human rights groups have urged the Korean government to grant equal rights, legal protection and state benefits to same-sex couples, Myung said.
Additionally, the couple and activists demanded the National Assembly pass a bill that would protect the rights of same-sex couples.
As of February, 37 countries, with a total of 1.3 billion people, accounting for 17 percent of the world's population, have legalized same-sex marriage.
Korea has recognized same-sex spouses of foreign diplomats since October 2019 but does not recognize same-sex spouses of Korean diplomats overseas.