The Seoul High Court, ruling in favor of the defendants in a lawsuit brought by the operator of the nation's first homosexual Web site, “X-Zone,” against the Information and Communications Ethics Committee (ICEC) seeking to nullify a decision by the committee to designate the Web site as harmful to minors, said that that the article that served as the basis of the decision -- Article 7 of the enforcement ordinance of the child protection law which deals with homosexuality -- might be both unconstitutional and illegal.

Article 10 of the youth protection law states that material that clearly causes mental and physical harm to minors must be designated as “harmful media.” Article 7 of the enforcement ordinance of the law specifically enumerates orgies, incest, homosexuality and sado-masochism as acts of perversion and prostitution that promote sexual relationships not permitted by common society.

In the court's ruling, the judge wrote that he was concerned that by recognizing X-Zone as a medium harmful to minors, the personal rights guaranteed by the constitution, including the right to the pursuit of happiness, had been violated, as had homosexuals' rights to freedom of expression.

The judge added that he questioned whether homosexuality conformed to the list of sexually perverted acts listed under Article 7.

Since it was the first time the courts have heard a case dealing with homosexuality and the enforcement ordinance of the youth protection law, however, there is no precedent from the Supreme Court stating that the enforcement ordinance is illegal. As this was the case, a judgment against the plaintiff was handed down. To overturn the administrative measures, there must usually be a prior decision that the enforcement ordinance, which serves as the basis of the administrative measure, is unconstitutional.

Even though the court ruled against the plaintiff, the opinion of the court that the law does not reflect the realities of contemporary society can be seen as a step forward for sexual minorities in the country.

The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has already designated homosexuality as "a human lifestyle and at the same time a form of affection" in its teacher guidebooks for high and middle school sex education.

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea, too, accepted an appeal from homosexuals in April and recommended that the Commission on Youth Protection remove homosexuality from Article 7 of the enforcement ordinance of the youth protection law.