Byun Hee-soo at the January 2020 press conference in which he publicly asked to remain in the Army STRINGER / AFP
Byun Hee-soo was the only military transsexual in the history of South Korea.
For only two months: the period of time that elapsed from her sexual reassignment operation until she was expelled from the Army in January 2020, for “physical or mental disability”.
Since then, he had been fighting, unsuccessfully, for his reinstatement.
This Wednesday, after several days without hearing from her, her body was found in her apartment south of Seoul.
He was 23 years old.
Firefighters found the body after the person who was providing psychological support called the emergency services to report that he had not heard from the young woman since Sunday, February 28.
Byun, according to his support person, had tried to kill himself three months ago.
The death of the former military officer has unleashed a wave of criticism in South Korea and calls for reform of the law, in a country that is still very conservative in terms of sexual and gender equality.
The South Korean Defense Ministry on Thursday expressed its condolences for the "regrettable death."
Byun was always clear from his childhood that he wanted to be a soldier.
After attending high school at a military school, he fulfilled his dream in 2017, when he voluntarily enlisted in the Army (military service of about 20 months is mandatory for males between the ages of 18 and 28 in South Korea).
He became a sergeant.
In November 2019, she underwent a sexual reassignment operation in Thailand.
It was the first case of an active transsexual soldier in South Korea.
The military legislation in that country prohibits trans people from enlisting.
After the operation, the Defense Ministry determined that the removal of her male organs constituted a physical or mental disability, and a military committee ruled in January 2020 that the young woman should be expelled from the Army.
That month, Byun had renounced her anonymity and appeared in an emotional press conference before the media to tell her case and publicly ask the military commanders to keep her in the Army as a woman.
Dressed in uniform, with a regulation cap and clearly emotional, she declared that “I am a military from the Republic of Korea (official name of the country)”.
As she explained, she had wanted to be a soldier since she was a child.
But she also suffered from depression due to "gender dysphoria", a deep feeling that her body did not correspond to her sexual identity, so she decided to have surgery.
"I want to show everyone that, whatever my sexual identity, I can be one of these great soldiers who defend the country," she declared, while standing before the journalists who were listening.
"Please give me a chance," she begged, breaking into sobs.
It did not happen.
In June, another panel rejected his request for readmission to the Army.
A month later, the young woman filed a lawsuit against the decision, arguing that it was unconstitutional.
The hearing on the case should have been held next month.
According to Byun's childhood friend, a young woman who only wanted to identify herself by her surname Kim, the former sergeant had not been able to find work since her expulsion.
All his job applications had been rejected since he made his identity known at that press conference.
Passionate about everything military
“I was destined to be a soldier.
She was passionate about military issues, she knew everything about the armed forces, not just Korean troops, but other countries, and she worked very hard to get her reinstated, ”Kim said.
In December, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) declared that the decision to expel Byun had no legal basis.
The non-governmental organization Center for the Human Rights of the Military in Korea had called for the dismissal of the sergeant to be considered as a case of discrimination against transgender people.
The young woman's death has sparked calls for a review of military legislation.
A very conservative legislation that prohibits relations between soldiers of the same sex and, although those relations are legal between civilians, punishes with two years in prison those who are found guilty.
"We could have saved her ... We just had to let her live her life according to who she really was," lamented prosecutor Ser Ji-hyun, who launched the #MeToo movement in South Korea by denouncing that she had suffered sexual harassment for part of your top.
In his Facebook account, he has demanded an “anti-discrimination law, now”.
The NHRCK, for its part, has paid tribute to Byun's "fight against discrimination and hatred," and vowed to increase its efforts to reform the system.
Last year a bill was proposed that would prohibit different treatment based on sex, race, age, sexual orientation, disability, education, physical appearance or religion.
In the last 14 years, there have been a dozen attempts to introduce legislation prohibiting discrimination, although these initiatives have never succeeded.
The very conservative values regarding gender and sexual orientation, which weigh heavily on society, are reinforced by the great influence of large religious congregations and traditionalist civic groups.
At the press conference in which he offered the condolences of the Ministry of Defense on Thursday, his deputy spokesman, Colonel Moon Hong-sik, indicated that, for the moment, the Ministry has not addressed a debate in detail on the possibility to review laws that prevent trans people from serving in the Army. Prime Minister Chung Se-Kyun has declared for his part that any possible reform will take time.
