<
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-koreas-top-court-upholds-landmark-ruling-over-same-sex-spousal-state-2024-07-18/>
'SEOUL, July 18 (Reuters) - South Korea's supreme court on Thursday upheld a
ruling that a same-sex partner was eligible for spousal benefits from state
health insurance, a move hailed as a win for LGBTQ rights in a country that has
lagged others in the region.
The court confirmed a landmark decision by the Seoul High Court early last year
that the National Health Insurance Service should provide equal spousal
coverage to So Sung-wook and Kim Yong-min - a gay couple who filed a suit in
2021 against the agency after it cancelled their spousal benefits.
"I couldn't believe when I heard the ruling. I was extremely happy and I
started crying," Kim told
Reuters outside the court.
"It took four years to earn this dependent status," he said. "We need to fight
harder to legalize same sex marriage going forward."
Chief Justice Jo Hee-de said that denying the couple benefits, even though
there are no clauses in the national health insurance act that specifically
refer to same-sex unions, constituted discrimination based on sexual
orientation.
"It is an act of discrimination that violates human dignity and value, the
right to pursue happiness, freedom of privacy and the right to equality before
the law, and the degree of violation is serious," judge Jo told a televised
trial.'
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
