Conscientious Objectors to Military Service in South Korea 

South Korea has upheld the principle of universal male conscription, and the military has been a potent force in post-war South Korean political, economic, and social development. The significance of male conscription and the military establishment in South Korean society has been explored from political, social, and gender studies (Brock, 2004). 
Lee Yeda said he had suffered a "social death" for refusing to join South Korea's military. He became the first South Korean objector to win refugee status in France in 2012, two months before he began military service. But his decision damaged his relationship with their family. "My father and younger sisters were not in favor of the idea, but they left the decision up to me and refused to interfere," The jailing of conscientious objectors does not make South Korea as safer. It serves to stigmatize and crush the aspirations of young men who had bright futures (Dasl, 2019) . 

Furthermore, conscription has fostered employment perks that can benefit men when they complete military service and put women at a disadvantage as they begin their careers. The wage difference between the sexes ranks among the largest in the developed world and clouds the country's long-term economic prospects. Most men feel left out as they suspend their studies or careers in their 20s to drag into the military, but women don't go through the same interruption that lasts about 18 months (Park, 2021). Men feel taken advantage of when women over perform them in the job market. Many blame their wasted years in the military taken away their opportunities to make themselves more attractive to employers. A poll released by the Korea Society Institute on Monday showed that most respondents disapproved of the conscription of women. Still, the majority of those in their 20s and 30s welcomed the idea. But most people expressed doubt that conscripting women right away would be a practical solution, mentioning child-rearing duties fall disproportionately on women. Young men in their 20s face unique conditions that have shifted the role of masculinity and men in South Korean society. It can discover the changing attitude towards military service, their understanding of new masculinity, and the growing presence of women in traditionally male-dominated spaces. The Korean Women's Development Institute discovered that non-traditional masculinity greeted most men in their 20s over traditional physical and sexual power stereotypes. It is partly due to the changing view of South Korea's compulsory military service, which was once an indicator of masculinity but is no longer highly valued. 70% of men in their 20s believe the service should be abolished (Park, 2021) . 

The economic benefits of completing military service have also decreased after the Constitutional Court dissolved the military business point program. 
This loss of privilege led to the unfairness that young women were not receiving due to completing the 18 months of military service. Not only did this change their view of masculinity, but it affected young men's perceptions of women's hardships concerning their own. Many men discount the standard sacrifices for many women, like caring for elderly-in-laws or quitting their careers to start a family. Military service still compulsory in South Korea under 30 is increasingly seen as a disadvantage for men, while women are free to pursue their lives. It is exacerbated by the increasingly unstable and pessimistic view of the future held by many young men. South Korea's rigorous school system has produced competent young people with grueling hours and entrance exams. However, after leaving university, many enter a saturated job market in major cities. Once viewed as having no these workforces, women are a vital source of competition, thanks to initiatives to create more inclusive work environments. With unemployment among men in their 20s increase to 11.3% this year, the economic hardship has heightened this sense of loss of male privilege. On top of this, women's increasing lifespan has resulted in a shift in the ratio of men to women throughout Korea. 2019 was the lowest male/female ratio in history, with only 95.2% men to every 100 women in Seoul's capital city. More women live in the towns and the workforce, and in academia, men's place in society faces more significant competition. It had led to feelings of injustice and perceived reverse sexism among some young men. And many have turned to the internet to share their feelings of frustration.  

Since the 1980s, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights strongly argued that conscientious objectors to military service must be protected within Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which has the same effect as the domestic laws of Korea. In 2012, the U.N. Human Rights Committee released its views regarding 388 petitioners indicating Korea's evident violence of the ICCPR. It is the fourth time the CCPR has made such a decision in Korea. "The right to conscientious objection to military conscription respects right to freedom of thought, religion, and conscience. It entitles the individual to an exemption from compulsory military service if this cannot be reconciled with their religion or beliefs. The right must not be impaired coercion." 

On June 30th, 2020, South Korea began taking applicants from conscientious objectors for alternative service to the nation's mandatory military service for all men. Instead of serving around 18 months in the military, men can now apply for the new alternative service. They were working for three years in prisons or detention centers. 
It has been a long time coming for those with moral and religious objections to being part of the military, who have previously received 18 months in prison for refusing to fulfill their service requirement. But while objectors no longer meet prison time, not everyone is satisfied with the government's plan for an alternative form of service. 

Conscientious objection has been a hot topic in Korea since the Japanese occupation in the 1930s when a group of 38 Jehovah's Witnesses was jailed for refusing to serve in the Japanese army. Since the Korean War, about 19,000 Koreans, most of them Jehovah's witnesses, have served imprisonment for objecting to military service (Gibson, 2020). 
Although the issue has been contested for some time, South Korea's Supreme Court held in 2018 when they ruled that moral and religious concerns could be legitimate reasons to refuse military service. In the year since the ruling, President Moon has pardoned hundreds of men previously convicted for disagreed with serving and released those still serving time from prison. Now the country is debuting its alternative. Starting on June 30th, 2020, men were able to apply to serve as workers in prisons instead of fulfilling their service requirements. Military Manpower Administration will review these applications to ensure that the person has sincere objections to military service. Potential criteria already caused controversy. Instead, critics are more focused on providing that service is equitable and that people are not using conscientious objection merely as an excuse to avoid their service duration. After the Supreme Court decision, 16 out of 17 lawmakers on the parliament's National Defense Committee argued that those choosing the alternative must be twice as long as those in active duty- around four years- to make the two types of service equitable. The alternative service option was set at 36 months 1.5 times longer than typical military service duration (Gibson, 2020). This length is one of the concerns that supporters of conscientious objection have raised about the new policy.  Amnesty International argued, 36 months do the most extended alternative service globally, causing the NGO to label it an alternative punishment. Others have raised a concern that the administration of the alternative service will be under the Ministry of Defense, which may still clash with the pacifistic intentions of those who object to military service in the first place. 

In addition, an alternative service for conscientious objectors is a challenge facing the Republic of Korea's military. South Korea has the lowest birth rates among developed countries. South Korea's rapidly decreasing population has led to a decreasing pool of young men serving their military duty. In 2017, President Moon followed through on a campaign promise by shortening the length of required service by 18 months. The Ministry of Defense said it plans to address looming workforce shortages by using more unmanned technology and recruiting more women. But, in another high-profile controversy, the army discharged a soldier after she underwent gender transition surgery, citing "mental and physical disabilities." She has indicated that she will take the issue to court to fight for her right to service (Kwang, 2018).

Amnesty International claimed that conscientious objectors in South Korea would continue to be criminalized and stigmatized for refusing military service under the parliament's new service law. 
Under the new legislation, those refusing military service on religious or other grounds will be required to work in a jail or other correction facility for three years. Previously, they would have been imprisoned for 18 months. 
The landmark ruling by the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court held in 2018 as it accepted the right to the conscientious objection within the country.  The Republic of Korea was promised an alternative program. Instead, they are faced with little more than a punishment, said Arnold Fang, Amnesty International's East Asia Researcher. 
They are confining people to work in prison for almost twice as long as standard military service does not respect their right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, or belief. A committee will assess applications for an alternative service plan under the Military Manpower Administration. 
The Republic of Korea's recognition of conscientious objection was a positive step, but this law falls way short on many legal experts worldwide. The service must be wholly under the control of a civilian body, different from the military authorities, said Arnold Fang. 
Thirty-six months makes one of the most extended forms of alternative military service in the world. This tokenistic move does not do too little to eliminate the human rights violations conscientious objectors are suffering, and in effect, continue to treat them as potential criminals. It will also not decrease the stigmatization they face in South Korea. Conscientious objectors will continue to be recognized as having been sent to jail, and their ability to access employment afterward will most likely still be compromised. United Nations urged the South Korean government to treat this adopted plan as an interim measure. Eventually, conscientious objectors must be provided with alternative service options that are non-punitive, entirely separate body from the Ministry of Defense, and compatible with their reasons for refusing to conduct military service (Stella, 2021). 

Over the last 60 years, thousands of young South Korean men have been convicted and imprisoned each year for refusing to join military service due to their religion and belief, even if they are willing to serve the community. Typically, they received 18-months jail terms but were saddled with criminal records and faced economic and social disadvantages that lasted far longer. Under international human rights law and standards, highlights with compulsory military service are obliged to provide genuinely civilian alternatives. These should be comparable to military service, with any additional length based on reasonable objection criteria. The process for evaluating claims to be accepted as conscientious objectors and any subsequent work service must also be under civilian authority (Brock, 2004). 
U.N. experts wrote to the South Korean government last month highlighting similar concerns about alternative service bills. As the Human rights committee indicated, the alternative service must be an absolute service within the society with respect for human rights. Although it is not contested that service in jails, detention centers, branch offices of prisons, and detention centers constitutes work of genuine service to the community, we express some concerns regarding the exclusive emphasis on places of detention. In particular, many conscientious objectors might be transferred from incarceration to a situation where they perform service in prisons. United Nations noted that to ensure that alternative service is of genuine service to the community and ensure the dignity of other service members, alternative service should consider the competencies and preference of the alternative service member. 
United Nations, therefore, suggests that Article 17 be amended, as an example, in the following way. Other service members shall perform services in the public interest. These services shall not entail the use of management of weapons or use of force, or that would otherwise be violating international human rights law. In assessing the placement of alternative service members, including the agency as well as most of the service members, the competencies and preferences of the alternative service member shall be considered (United Nation, 2019). 

Agencies that may receive alternative service members shall be designated by presidential decree. Several aspects of the draft bill seem to entail punitive elements that would be different from the state obligations of the Republic of Korea under Article 18 (1) of the Covenant (United Nation, 2019). 

First, the bill introduces that alternative service should be 36 months, which, as far as we understand, is longer than military service. There does not seem to be an objective justification for this distinction. To comply with the Covenant, any unequal treatment based on belief must be based on objective grounds and be necessary and proportionate. The failure to comply with such a justification is contrary to Article 26 of the Covenant and considered a punitive measure in breach of Article 18 (1) (Grim, 2011). 
Human beings have always struggled with the moral implications of war and conflict for various reasons throughout history. The protection afforded to individuals who object to such pugilism based on conscience is relatively new and has developed along with international human rights law. In this vein, conscientious objection to military service can be defined as "a definition of refusing military service and war for reasons of conscience based on moral, religious, ethical, philosophical, humanitarian, or similar conviction." Despite the efforts of the international human rights community to expand the protection afforded to conscientious objectors, some states continue to initiate further steps to implement compulsory military service ad to prosecute those refusing to bear arms harshly (Gibson, 2020). States including Turkey, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, South Korea, Israel, Finland, and many other countries continue to treat millions of Conscientious objectors inhumanly, although the harshness of the measures implemented by each state varies. In Turkey, conscientious objectors have been prosecuted several times for the same act, violating the principle of the U.S. legal system, one of the most fundamental and universally accepted principles of criminal law prohibiting states from prosecuting individuals twice for the same act. Especially under the current state of emergency, the Turkish government has been criticized for issuing a new law that uses military conscriptions to oppress political opponents. Israeli objectors have been subjected to prolonged and arbitrary detention for refusing to serve in the military. Finland continues to implement punitive alternatives to military service and detain objectors who refuse to be put through these corrective alternatives. Russia has alternative services available but implements them in a discriminatory manner denying Jehovah's witnesses applications that they are a member of an extremist organization and are therefore criminalized. What is even more concerning is the rise of militarization throughout the world in the last decade, which has led to even more individuals being forced to serve in militaries. Instead of reducing militarization, Norway has extended its compulsory military service to women and the name of gender equality. The many States, including Sweden, Ukraine, and Georgia, brought back compulsory military service due to regional tension, most notable caused by Russia's military drills and aggression in the North. Debates on reintroducing military service in Croatia also raised serious concerns regarding the militarization of the Balkans. This whole picture can be defined as neo-militarization (Brock, 2004). 
A heated Netflix series reignites a debate in South Korea over its military, its story of abuse scandals, and the compulsory conscription that fills its discrimination with a young male. "D.P." has been one of the top Netflix shows in South Korea since it premiered in August 2021. It follows military police designated to capture deserters, shining a light on daily life for many conscripts, including mental and physical abuse from soldiers, reports Reuters. Director Han Jun-hee argued he sought to tell a humanizing story about how the system marks deserters, both victims and criminals, and the toll it takes on those forced to do the hunting." D.P. is a story of tracing deserter, but at the same time, it is a powerful story of looking for someone's unfortunate son, brother, and lover," Han told Reuters in an email. Ministry of Defense spokesman said the military environment has changed and that ministry has a trip to stamp out abuse and harsh treatment. In August 2021, the Ministry of Defense announced that it had planned to scrap the system of having rank–and–file soldiers even before the series came out. Its change will go into effect in July 2022. South Korea remains an active-duty military of 550,000, with 2.7 million troops in reserves, amid decades of tensions with North Korea. All men must serve up to 18 months, depending on the military branch. South Korea's martial criminal law punishes desertion by up to 10 years in prison. The Defence Ministry says abuse and abandonment among conscripts are down; a decision from 2019 allows enlisted soldiers to use cellphones within their barracks. The ministry declined to comment on the exact number of deserters, but South Korean media reported that 55 cases were reported in 2020. Military death by suicide was also reported 27 in the year 2020 (Gibson, 2020). 

Depression is a common mental disorder globally. Based on the World Health Organization's global health estimates (2017), 4.4% of the worldwide population has depression. Risk factors for depression include genetic and socio-demographic characteristics. The military environment could be another factor for depression. In a closed military background, the Republic of Korea military personnel experience a strict hierarchy, a conflict between ranks, and geographical separation from loved ones, which can cause psychological tension, anxiety, and depression. Furthermore, depression in military leaders can negatively affect the soldiers they manage, representing a significant threat to the army. Based on the Ministry of National Defense's Depressive Index, the depression was 5% in 2016. From 2009 to 2018, suicidal-related deaths accounted for the most significant proportion of all military deaths. In addition, the number of military officers who committed suicide has increased, indicating an urgent need to deal with depression and set up a mental health policy for these officers (Grim, 2021). 

In February 2021, the constitutional court addressed reserve forces training in a case where the grounds for conscientious objection were ethical, not religious. In January 2021, the top court ruled that religious faith was grounds for the program. The objector standing trial, who argued his family had persuaded him to join the military despite his belief about nonviolence, claimed he was refusing the annual training because he could no longer turn a blind eye to his conscience (Gibson, 2020). 
Previously the lower court sided with the objector, who said living with domestic violence and watching footage of civilian attacks by the U.S. armed forces had solidified his commitment. The prosecution had dismissed the case, saying he enjoyed video games that featured shooting. "Those video games have a fictional character who doesn't bleed to death," the Supreme Court held, explaining the objector's belief as "deeply rooted and truthful," The objector argued he had stopped playing the games (Gibson, 2020). 

The ruling comes after a reservist seeking to participate in alternative service instead of reserve forces training received approval from a 29 member's government committee comprising lawyers and rights experts. His grounds were ethical and not religious; it was the first of its kind. Furthermore, another object tor invoking similar moral grounds succeeded in avoiding conscription and entered an alternative service program for the first time. Men in the alternative service program work at correctional institutions for three years as full-time employees, living in groups near their designated facilities and taking on everyday responsibilities such as maintenance. They are paid the wages same as other conscripts as well as vacations and leave (Yoo, 2015).  

Since South Korea joined the United Nations in 1991, the criminal punishment and imprisonment of conscientious objectors in Korea have become a more critical international agenda because both U.S. and U.N. have been involved in this issue in the diplomatic, legal, or moral dimension. Although there was no sectarian and unique pacifism in the Korean cultural tradition, international powers forced Korean society to comprehend the non-Korean worldview in the name of human rights (Brock, 2004).

References 
Brock, Peter. 2004. These Strange Criminals: An Anthology of Prison Memoirs by Conscientious Objectors from the Great War to the Cold War. Toronto. University of Toronto Press.

Dasl, Yoon. 2019. South Korea is having fewer babies; soon it will have fewer soldiers, The Wall Street Journal, Published on November 6th 2019. 

Gibson, J. 2020. South Korea’s Conscientious Objectors are Getting an Alternative to Miltary Service, The Diplomat, published on July 9 2020. 

Grim, Brian. 2021. The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Prosecution and Conflict in the Twentieth Century. New York: Cambridge University Press. 

Kwang, Y. 2018. Expansion of Religious Pluralism in Korean Civil Society: A Case Study of Conscientious Objection in South Korea, Published 24 October 2018. 

United Nation, Mandates of the Special Report on the promotion of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, published on 28th November 2019 

Park, N. 2021. Why So Many Young Men in South Korea Hate Feminism, Washington, Foreign Policy, Published on June 23rd 2021. 

Stella, F. 2021. Why South Korea’s Young Men are Turning Conservative, Melbourne, The University of Melbourne Press. 

Yoo, Kwangsuk. 2015. Numbers and Categorization of Korean Religious Minorities: A Comparison of Demographic Census and International Religious Datebases. Discourse 201: 43-53
 

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