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Korea will revise or repeal military laws that stipulate punishment and discharge of gay soldiers, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said Tuesday. The plan, which reflects a January recommendation by the National Human Rights Commission, is opposed by senior officers, who say it will cause problems maintaining discipline in military units.
¡°As society is showing more interest in the human rights of homosexuals in the military, we will take measures to protect those soldiers¡¯ rights according to the NHRC recommendation,¡± the minister told a National Assembly Defense Committee meeting.
Under the military penal code, soldiers who engage in homosexual acts face imprisonment of up to one year.
Meanwhile, the ministry will establish a committee to study the entire question of exemption from, and alternatives to, military service, from conscientious objectors to sportsmen, a matter that most recently exercised minds when the Korean team in the World Baseball Classic were granted a blanket exemption. The committee will consist of 17 people with backgrounds in law, religion, the arts and civil activism.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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