 |
| ▲ A ruling is in progress at the Constitutional Court in this file photo taken Sept. 26, 2023. (Yonhap) |
male conscription-constitutionality
Constitutional court upholds male-only conscription
SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Yonhap) -- The Constitutional Court has unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the Military Service Act that subjects only men to conscription, sources said Wednesday.
The law stipulates every person of the masculine gender of South Korea shall faithfully perform mandatory military service while those of the feminine gender may perform only active service or reserve service through volunteering.
Under the act, South Korea conscripts all able-bodied men into military service as the country technically remains at war with North Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
Five men, including current and prospective conscripts and a draft dodger, had filed a petition asking the court for a constitutional review of the Act because they said subjecting only men to military service violates the right to equality.
In its decision delivered on Sept. 26, the nine-member court unanimously ruled that the Act does not breach the right to equality, nor does it come into conflict with the Constitution.
"In general, men and women as groups have different physical capabilities and, furthermore, there are only an extremely limited number of countries that impose military duties on women among the 70-some countries with a conscription system," the court said.
The court went on to predict, however, that the country may need to start to seriously consider legislation on conscripting both men and women or converting to a volunteer military system over the long term in line with the changing supplies of military resources stemming from the country's falling birth rate.
It marks the fourth time the Constitutional Court has ruled in favor of the male-only conscription system, including the latest one in 2014 in which the ruling was also unanimous.
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
