Gay ROK Army Soldier Makes A Stand
A 23-year-old man hopes to blaze a trail for gay rights by becoming Korea’s first serving conscript to refuse to remain in the armed forces because of his sexual orientation. Yoo Jung Min-Seok announced his decision to the press on Monday.
“My identity, the duty my country demands and my rights as a citizen are in conflict in a world where it is regarded as compulsory for men to be masculine,†Yoo Jung Min-seok told reporters in Jongno’s Zelkova Tree Cafe, in Anguk-dong, Seoul. “I reject the harm done by the macho barracks culture and an army that produces aggressive, belligerent men.â€
I don’t know about the belligerent part, but I would hope the ROK army is producing aggressive soldiers. Also as I have seen a few times in the US Army, soldiers pretended to be gay in order to get chaptered out of the Army because they just don’t like it. Who knows with this guy, but a difference I see between the two militaries is that a homosexual in the US Army can still get discharged honorably while the soldier in this article claims that he is getting an dishonorable discharge. Just makes me wonder if there is more to this story then he is letting on.
