Seoul, South Korea

In a significant move, South Korea's Supreme Court upheld a ruling that same-sex partners were eligible for spousal benefits from the state insurer.

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The ruling affirmed a significant precedent set by the Seoul High Court early last year, which mandated the National Health Insurance Service to grant equal spousal coverage to So Sung-wook and Kim Yong-min, a gay couple, who had sued the agency in 2021 after it revoked their spousal benefits.

Emotional response from plaintiffs

"I couldn’t believe when I heard the ruling. I was extremely happy and I started crying. It took four years to earn this dependent status and…we need to fight harder to legalize same-sex marriage going forward," Kim Yong-min told Reuters.

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Even though the national health insurance act makes no mention of it, Chief Justice Jo Hee-de declared that depriving individuals of these benefits based on their gender amounted to 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," Jo told a televised trial.

Despite having had a wedding ceremony and frequently being referred to as a married couple, So and Kim's union is not legally recognised in South Korea. Advocates and attorneys said that this decision represents South Korea's first official acceptance of a same-sex union.

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A lower court originally ruled in favour of the insurer, stating that a same-sex union could not be recognised as a common-law marriage under current laws. However, this decision was later overturned by the appellate court.

Why is this ruling significant?

The South Korean Supreme Court's ruling is a "stepping stone for progress" towards marriage equality, activist Horim Yi at Marriage For All, an LGBTQ+ campaign group, said.

Conservative religious groups in South Korea strongly oppose anti-discrimination laws, causing many individuals from the LGBTQ+ community to conceal their identities at work as they fight for equality.

Before the ruling, members of conservative Christian groups protested outside the court, displaying a banner that said, "Same-sex families are nonsense. Supreme Court, overturn the Seoul High Court's ruling!"

(With inputs from agencies)