SEOUL, South Korea – A transgender woman who was expelled by the South Korean military last year after her sex reassignment surgery was found dead in her home south of Seoul, police said on Thursday.
Authorities said they were investigating the cause of death of the woman, Byeon Hee-su, 23, whose body was found on Wednesday at her home in the city of Cheongju by emergency crews. They were alerted after a local mental health center that was advising her said it was unable to contact her.
Mrs. Byeon, who had been a sergeant in an army tank unit, was released from military service in January 2020 after her surgery. She wanted to continue her service in the army, but a military panel declared her unfit to serve. She became the first active soldier in South Korea to be referred to such a panel because she had undergone a sex change operation.
Since her resignation, Ms. Byeon has campaigned vigorously to be reinstated, arguing that there was no reason why she could not fulfill her duties.
“I want to show that I can be an excellent soldier who helps to defend this country, regardless of my sexual identity,” said Byeon through tears at a news conference after his dismissal. “Please give me that chance.”
Ms. Byeon’s case revealed the situation that lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people often face in South Korea’s socially conservative society, especially in the armed forces. Gay and other soldiers have long complained of discrimination and abuse. Gays and lesbians are not barred from serving, but have been subjected to investigations by military officials. Trans people, however, are prohibited from joining the armed forces, as they are categorized by the military as having mental and physical “disorders”.
In a decision last year, a district court formally recognized Ms. Byeon as a woman. After her initial petition to be reinstated was rejected by the military, Ms. Byeon sued the military, arguing that her dismissal had been illegal. The first hearing in the case had been scheduled to take place in a military court next month.
The military expressed its condolences for her death, but declined to comment further.
Mrs. Byeon’s death brought a demonstration on social media of trans people, who thanked her for speaking up for trans rights in the face of social stigma.
“I sincerely regret that we were unable to protect the life you so longed for,” Jang Hye-young, a lawmaker affiliated with the minority Justice Party, said on a Twitter post.
Efforts to adopt a comprehensive anti-discrimination law to promote the rights of women and sexual and other minorities have been blocked for years in Parliament as powerful conservative Christian churches have lobbied against it, calling the conduct of LGBT people sinful.
Ms. Byeon joined the army in 2017. She was operated on in Thailand while on leave. She had problems later, when a hospital run by South Korean military personnel, where she checked in for post-operative treatment, said she was incapacitated and could be discharged from the army because of the loss of male genitalia in surgery.
South Korea, which is technically at war with North Korea on one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world, requires that all fit men serve in its armed forces for about 20 months. Women are exempt from recruitment, but can choose to enlist.
Before her death, Ms. Byeon found significant international support for her cause.
United Nations human rights officials said in a letter to the South Korean government last July that his dismissal “would violate the right to work and the prohibition of discrimination based on gender identity under international human rights law”.
The South Korean government defended the military’s decision, saying that to allow transgender people to serve in the armed forces, the country would have to consider how it would affect the readiness of combat troops against North Korea. He also said that the nation should weigh the “effects on staff morale”
In December, the National Human Rights Commission of South Korea classified the army’s decision as unfair and recommended the reinstatement of Byeon.
Lim Tae-hoon, director of the Military Human Rights Center in Korea, who assisted Ms. Byeon, said after her death: “We pray that Sergeant Byeon Hee-su, a tank driver, will live with like-minded people world where there is no discrimination and hatred. ”