Updated May 25: A South Korean military court sentenced a captain in the army to six months in prison on Wednesday for allegedly having sex with other men. The man was arrested on April 13 as part of what Amnesty International called “a bigoted hunt to root out gay personnel,” the New York Times reports. At least 32 other soldiers face criminal charges related to having sex with other men, which is outlawed in the South Korean military criminal code.
The soldier's sentence is suspended for one year, meaning if he does not break the law in the next year he won't serve any prison time for this conviction.
The Center for Military Human Rights Korea, the advocacy group that accused the South Korean military of using dating apps to out gay men in the service, called this conviction a step backwards.
“The clock of Korean history is going backwards," the center said, according to Newsweek. "An army that is not safe for sex minorities can not be safe for heterosexuals.”
Previously:
The South Korean army is reportedly using dating apps to out gay soldiers.
According to Quartz, activist group Military Human Rights Center of Korea says the South Korean army is seeking out gay men on dating apps within its forces in an effort to oust them from the service, and so far at least one soldier has reportedly been arrested because of it. The search started after a video of two male soldiers having sex apparently surfaced online. As Quartz notes, it is illegal for soldiers to engage in same-sex sexual activity, though it is legal in South Korea outside of the military.
Quartz published screen shots of texts released by the Military Human Rights Center that reportedly show how prosecutors are convincing soldiers under investigation to lure other soldiers on dating apps popular among gay and bisexual men, with the intention of potentially getting them arrested. So far, 40 to 50 soldiers have reportedly been targeted and identified. The Korean army has denied the allegations, according to Quartz.
In the United States, gay men can legally and openly serve in the armed forces, but it hasn't always been that way — in fact it wasn't that way until 2011. President Barack Obama repealed "Don't Ask Don't Tell," a policy that said gay men and women could serve in the military as long as they kept their sexuality a secret. If they were open about their sexuality, they faced being kicked out.
But in South Korea, where Quartz points out being gay is not widely accepted, people who violate the military's ban on "homosexual acts" face arrest and a potential prison sentence of up to two years — even though all able-bodied men in Korea are required to serve in the country's military. While some legal experts said the ban hasn't been strictly enforced, the Military Human Rights Center said in a statement the law puts South Korea in line with countries that torture people based on their sexuality.
“If military personnel who served without any problem are forced to be dishonorably discharged and sent to prison due to their sexual orientation, it is hard to distinguish Korea from the worrisome countries where homosexuals are detained, tortured and executed,” the Military Human Rights Center of Korea said in a statement.
Related: Chechnya's Reported Internment of Gay Men Has U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley "Disturbed"
