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| This undated file photo shows Byun Hee-soo, a transgender solider, who was found dead in 2021 after being forcibly discharged from the Army the previous year. Yonhap |
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) on Thursday recommended recognizing a transgender soldier, who died in an apparent suicide after forcible discharge from service, as having died in the line of duty.
The Army earlier decided to classify the death of the soldier, Byun Hee-soo, as a "general death." Byun died in 2021 after being forcibly discharged the previous year. Currently, deaths of men serving in the military are divided into three categories: death in action, death on duty and general death.
The state human rights watchdog called for a defense minister to reevaluate Byun's case as an on-duty death, saying her death had significant causal connection with the forcible discharge from the Army.
"The victim suffered mental and financial difficulties due to reasons such as the illegal discharge order, which eventually led to death," the rights watchdog said, adding the death was largely due to negligence or misconduct by the military.
The commission also called the Army's conclusion that Byun's death was related to her personal action, such as a gender reassignment surgery, a discriminatory perception on sexual minorities.
It also urged the minister to come up with a system to prevent the recurrence of forcibly discharging an active-duty officer who has sex reassignment surgery while in service.
Byun underwent surgery in 2019, two years after voluntarily enlisting, and expressed her desire to keep serving in the military as a female soldier. But the Army decided to compulsorily discharge her in January 2020.
She later filed a suit over its decision to discharge her against her will but died in an apparent suicide in February 2021. (Yonhap)
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