The first known transgender soldier in South Korea, who was discharged in January after undergoing gender reassignment surgery, was found dead at his home on Wednesday, officials said.
Byun Hui-su, 23, a former sergeant and tank driver, had not been in contact with local mental health counselors since Sunday, so they requested a welfare check at his home, according to Shin Jeong-hwan, an officer from the Cheongju fire department.
When they arrived, the authorities found Hui-su’s body and noticed that the decomposition of the corpse indicated that she had been dead for several days, Shin said.
The cause of death was not immediately known.
Hui-su, who struggled with depression for a long time because of her gender identity, underwent gender reassignment surgery in November 2019 in Thailand and hoped to serve in the military’s female corps.
Instead, the military dismissed her in January, saying the procedure was grounds for dismissal. They cited a rule that allows the army to get rid of soldiers with physical or mental disabilities if the problems are not due to combat or occur in the line of duty.
They said the surgery left Hui-su unable to complete his term of service.
Hui-su promised to fight the resignation and said at a news conference in January that he would initiate a lawsuit.
“I will continue to fight until the day that I can remain to serve in the army,” she said.
“I will challenge the decision to the end, to the Supreme Court.”
The ex-soldier collapsed when he told reporters about his fight against gender dysphoria, the psychological condition attributed to the conflict between physical gender and gender identity.
“It was an extremely difficult decision to reveal my identity to my base, but when I did, I felt much better,” said Hui-su at the time.
“I thought about finishing serving in the army and then going through transitional surgery and then rejoining the army as a soldier. But my depression became very severe. “
Wired Poles