Gay Witch-Hunt Resumes in South Korean Military
The gay witch-hunt in the South Korean military has restarted.
This time, it’s in the Korean Navy: According to the Military Human Rights Center for Korea (MHRCK) on March 12, three Navy soldiers have been investigated on suspicion of breaching Article 92–6 of the Military Criminal Act. The article bans serving members of the military from having consensual sexual intercourse with people of the same sex.
MHRCK alleges that a soldier, Navy A, sought counselling about his sexual orientation. He revealed he had homosexual intercourse with another soldier. This was then reported to his commander, who in turn reported it to judicial affairs staff, thus making Navy A a criminal suspect.
Navy A’s phone was allegedly searched, and he was interrogated by Military Police, demanding to know who the other soldier was. Another investigation started against Navy B, asking him directly “Are you homosexual?”
Navy B responded that he is gay, triggering the military police to issue a search and seizure warrant and took Navy B’s phone. He was then interrogated. His phone and KakaoTalk (South Korea’s equivalent of WhatsApp) chat history was searched, to see who else was gay. They found out there was intercourse with another person, Navy C.
The MHRCK says, “Investigators raised a series of irrelevant questions that degraded Navy B’s integrity such whether the victim is homosexual or bisexual, whether ejaculation was made, which sexual position was taken and how their relationship was made”.
As for Navy C, the human rights organisation noted that “investigators summoned Navy C to a military police office without any explanation, and publicly asked “Are you a homosexual?” in the crowded office and requested Navy C to turn one’s mobile phone in”.
They cast irrelevant questions such as “When did you first grow curious of men?”, “Since when was your sexual orientation like that?”, “Since when did you access gay websites?”.
The three soldiers are currently under investigation, each facing up to two years in prison.
The latest incident comes two years after the gay witch-hunt came to light: the MHRCK found in April 2017 that the South Korean army blacklisted forty to fifty soldiers for their sexual orientation.
The “gay blacklist” was masterminded by Jang Jun-kyu, former Chief of Staff of the South Korean army: he ordered that gay men in the military be hunted down, conducting a nationwide investigation through phone-tapping, monitoring of gay dating apps, and one-on-one interrogations.
Under the Military Criminal Act, Article 92–6, also called the Indecent Act:
“A person who commits anal intercourse with any person [in the military]…or any other indecent act shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than two years.”
There have been many calls to repeal this law, including by Amnesty International, and more recently, Human Rights Watch.
“It is long overdue for South Korea to repeal this archaic and discriminatory provision in the military criminal code, and get up-to-date when it comes to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex people.” — Amnesty International
The Military Human Rights Center for Korea is assisting with legal fees for the victims, collecting donations in the process.
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For more on the repressive LGBT environment in South Korea:
They Dare to Rally for LGBTQ Rights in South Korea
