By Lee Min-hyung
The Military Manpower Administration (MMA) will not file lawsuits against conscientious objectors until a new legal system is introduced to allow them to perform alternative service.
“Starting Wednesday, we are not pursuing criminal charges against those who claim the right to refuse to serve in the military, to be in line with a recent Constitutional Court ruling,” the MMA said Thursday.
The decision came a week after the court ruled the current conscription law was unconstitutional, as it does not stipulate any alternative service for conscientious objectors and it infringes upon people's freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
The court also urged the National Assembly to revise the relevant military service act by introducing alternative service by the end of next year.
Since Wednesday, seven people have so far applied to defer their military service, according to the MMA. Following the decision, the applicants will not be punished until the Assembly establishes a legal basis for alternative service.
The number of conscientious objectors here numbered 2,699 between 2013 and 2017, with more than 99 percent of them declining to enlist due to religious reasons.
The Ministry of National Defense is also coming up with a series of alternative service measures with a focus on maintaining fairness between conscientious objectors and conscripted soldiers.