A landmark ruling by a Seoul court recently provided hope for the equal recognition of LGBT+ partnerships in South Korea. So Sung-uk and Kim Yong-min, a gay couple who have been together for a decade, won the right to national health insurance coverage, despite the authorities having initially revoked it. Their struggle began when local media drew attention to their story, leading to the revocation of So’s coverage. Despite this, the couple persevered and eventually won the right to coverage. Kim Yong-min stated that the decision was a relief for the country’s LGBTQ+ community, who have been feeling tired of not seeing much progress for a long time.
South Korea is still far behind its Asian counterparts, with Taiwan being the only Asian government recognizing same-sex marriages after legalizing it in 2019. In South Korea, anti-discrimination laws facing resistance from conservative religious groups and others have stalled in the legislature. Although a survey by a South Korean pollster Realmeter last year found that nearly seven in 10 respondents said an anti-discrimination law was necessary, lawmakers have failed to move forward with them.
So Sung-uk and Kim Yong-min’s victory is a sign of hope for South Korea’s LGBTQ+ community, whose acceptance is rising among the general public. However, they still face significant challenges, as they are not recognized as a family by law in South Korea. The couple stated that this ruling is not just a one-off win but a sign that love has won, and it will again. The court’s decision was hailed by human rights group Amnesty International as a step towards marriage equality, while the country’s health service said it would conduct a legal review to decide whether to challenge the latest court decision before the Supreme Court. The couple blamed inaction by politicians for South Korea’s slow progress on LGBTQ+ rights and highlighted the need for politicians to make society a more equal and better place to live.