A South Korean court of appeal recognized the law, within a couple of the same sex, to benefit from the health coverage of his partner, while marriage for all is prohibited in the country.
by Philippe Mesmer (Tokyo, Correspondence)
It is a judgment carrying hope for LGBT minorities that the Seoul administrative court of appeal made Tuesday February 21. He recognizes a man the right to benefit from the health coverage of his partner in a same -sex couple. This decision represents a significant advance in a country where marriage for all remains prohibited.
The judgment agreed to So Sung-Uk, who criticized Korean social security, the NHIS, for refusing him the right to benefit from the health coverage of his partner, Kim Yong-Min. “Judgment shows that love is stronger than discrimination and hatred,” said Mr. So at the end of the court. “Our law has finally been admitted in a legal framework. It is however only one right among the thousands of which a married couple normally benefits,” nuanced Mr. Kim. Employed in thick rainbow scarfs, the two men praised the sentence by tearing before the Seoul court of the leaves bearing the mention “discrimination”.
m. Kim and M. So have been living together since 2013. They organized a semblance of wedding ceremony in May 2019. For their social coverage, they chose to record Mr. SO as a caregiver for Mr. Kim, who is the insured as social security. Refusing to recognize this situation, the NHIS sanctioned at the end of 2020 Mr. SO by a recovery of its situation, claiming that its marital status was not valid. The NHIS also deprived it of the possibility of contesting its decision. Mr. SO filed a complaint against the public organization in February 2021.
In November of the same year, the administrative court of Seoul rejected its request and agreed to the NHIS: “According to the law, said the jurisdiction, the union of a man and a woman is understood as the fundamental element of marriage and there is no legal reason to extend this definition to same -sex couples. “
discrimination
On appeal, the judges recalled that social security legislation allows married couples to register with one of the members payable by the other. They also considered that the exemption from same-sex couples can be seen as discrimination based on sexual orientation.
“The complainant and his partner are men, but they consider themselves as love partners taking care of each other. One depends financially on the other. They declared their union before their families and Their friends. Their relationship is therefore no different, in its essence, that of a married couple, “said the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which specifies however that, if this decision is a first in Korea South, this is in no way recognition of the “legal status” of homosexual marriage.
You have 24.85% of this article to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.