Jehovah’s Witnesses have been present in South Korea for more than 100 years and enjoy freedom of worship—except for those who are conscientious objectors to military service. From the Korean War period to the present, South Korea has relentlessly prosecuted young Witness men who refuse military service, and the government has not provided any alternative to resolve the issue. Because of this policy, the government has sentenced over 19,300 Witnesses to a combined total of more than 36,800 years in prison for refusing to perform military service.

However, South Korea’s long-standing position on this issue is changing. On June 28, 2018, the Constitutional Court reversed its previous stance and ruled that a portion of the Military Service Act (MSA) is unconstitutional, since it fails to provide for alternative service for conscientious objectors. While the Constitutional Court has authority to rule on the validity of national laws, the Supreme Court rules on how these laws apply to individual cases. Consequently, on August 30, 2018, the Supreme Court heard several cases involving Jehovah’s Witnesses who are conscientious objectors and will issue a ruling that will determine how the MSA applies to them. Its decision will have an effect on some 900 pending cases in the lower courts.

Prior to the June ruling, the Constitutional Court had ruled twice before, in 2004 and in 2011, that the MSA does not violate the constitution, even though the MSA does not recognize the right to conscientious objection. Despite the Court’s rulings, some lower court judges believed that they would violate the constitution if they sentenced conscientious objectors to prison.

Since 2015, district court judges have declared 114 Witness conscientious objectors “not guilty” of refusing military service, and appellate courts have rendered 12 of these decisions. As more judges saw the need to reform the MSA, they suspended hearing many cases, pending the decision of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court. Now the number of pending cases before the courts far exceeds the number of Witnesses imprisoned for conscientious objection. (See accompanying chart.)

Separately, since 2012, lower courts have referred eight cases to the Constitutional Court, asking it to decide again whether the MSA is constitutional. On July 9, 2015, the Constitutional Court held a hearing to examine the matter for the third time.

After deliberating for almost three years, the Constitutional Court acknowledged the right to conscientious objection in its decision of June 28, 2018. In a groundbreaking ruling, the Court decided that not providing alternative service for conscientious objectors is unconstitutional, and therefore, the government must change the law. Although the present law will remain in force for now, the government must amend it by December 31, 2019, and provide alternative service for conscientious objectors. The Ministry of National Defense has stated that it will respect the Court’s ruling. However, to abide by international standards, an acceptable alternative service must not be punitive, it must be truly civilian in nature, and it must not be under military control or supervision. The government has yet to unveil specific plans for implementing alternative service, but Jehovah’s Witnesses hope that the new program will be acceptable for all conscientious objectors.

Additionally, the Court ruled on whether it was constitutional to penalize conscientious objectors under the MSA. It determined that criminal courts have the right to imprison those who evade military service. However, it also determined that depending on the circumstances of each case, a conscientious objector could be found “not guilty” based on the “justifiable grounds” provision in the law.

The UN Human Rights Committee (CCPR), which reviews the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), has consistently ruled in more than 500 cases that South Korea * is violating the rights of conscientious objectors by convicting and imprisoning them. Most recently, on January 14, 2015, the CCPR released its fifth decision against South Korea on this issue. The decision, involving 50 Witnesses who had been imprisoned, repeated earlier rulings that South Korea had violated their right to “freedom of thought, conscience and religion.” It also concluded that the government was guilty of “arbitrary detention” by punishing the men with imprisonment for exercising a right guaranteed by the ICCPR.

After reviewing South Korea’s entire human rights record, the CCPR adopted concluding observations on November 3, 2015. The CCPR urged the government to release all conscientious objectors, expunge their criminal record, provide adequate compensation, and adopt legislation providing for alternative civilian service. It stated that the government “should also fully implement the Views the [CCPR] has issued so far.”

1. August 31, 2018

   Total of 108 of Jehovah’s Witnesses serving prison terms for conscientious objection to military service.

   

2. August 20, 2018

   UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention renders a decision that the imprisonment of two Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objectors is arbitrary since it is in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

3. June 28, 2018

   Constitutional Court rules that Article 5, paragraph 1, of the Military Service Act is unconstitutional, since it fails to provide alternative service.

4. November 3, 2015

   CCPR adopts concluding observations, urging South Korea to provide an alternative civilian service program.

5. July 9, 2015

   Constitutional Court considers whether certain provisions of the Military Service Act are constitutional.

6. January 14, 2015

   CCPR adopts Views finding that South Korea violated Article 18 (right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion) and Article 9 (prohibiting arbitrary detention) of the ICCPR by denying 50 Witnesses the right to conscientious objection to military service and imprisoning them.

7. June 30, 2014

   Twenty-eight cases pending with Constitutional Court on issue of conscientious objection to military service; 618 men imprisoned.

8. January 28, 2014

   President grants a special amnesty and release on parole that shortens by a month or two the prison terms of about 100 Witness men incarcerated for conscientious objection to military service; 513 are imprisoned as of January 31.

9. November 2013

   Total of 599 Witnesses detained for conscientious objection to military service.

10. April 2013

    Seventy percent of Witness inmates are separated from the general prison population and placed in cells with fellow Witnesses.

11. October 25, 2012

    CCPR adopts Views finding that South Korea violated Article 18 (right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion) of the ICCPR by denying 388 Witnesses the right to conscientious objection to military service.

12. August 30, 2011

    Constitutional Court decision finds that the laws that penalize conscientious objectors who refuse military service do not violate Korea’s Constitution.

13. March 24, 2011

    CCPR adopts Views finding that South Korea violated Article 18 of the ICCPR by denying 100 Witnesses the right to conscientious objection to military service.

14. January 15, 2009

    Presidential Commission on Suspicious Deaths in the Military releases a report confirming the South Korean government was responsible for the death of five young Witnesses from 1975 to 1985 who were imprisoned for conscientious objection.

15. December 2008

    South Korea overturns plan to introduce alternative service for conscientious objectors.

16. September 18, 2007

    South Korea’s Ministry of Defense announces plan to allow conscientious objectors who refuse military service on religious grounds to perform alternative service, promising to revise the military service law and army reserve law.

17. November 3, 2006

    CCPR adopts Views finding that South Korea violated Article 18 of the ICCPR by denying two Witnesses the right to conscientious objection to military service.

18. August 26, 2004

    Constitutional Court upholds the constitutionality of the law that punishes conscientious objectors.

19. 2001

    Office of Military Manpower Administration discontinues forced enrollment, and prison sentences are reduced from a mandatory three-year sentence to a year and a half.

20. December 1, 1985

    Kim, Young-geun dies as a result of the inhuman acts of violence by the military during his imprisonment for conscientious objection.

21. August 17, 1981

    Kim, Sun-tae dies as a result of the inhuman acts of violence by the military during his imprisonment for conscientious objection to military service.

22. March 28, 1976

    Jeong, Sang-bok dies after severe beatings and harsh treatment by the military in response to his conscientious objection to military service.

23. March 19, 1976

    Lee, Choon-gil dies after severe beatings by military policemen resulted in a ruptured spleen during his imprisonment for conscientious objection.

24. November 14, 1975

    Kim, Jong-sik dies after severe blows and torture by military officers in response to his conscientious objection to military service.

25. 1975

    President Park Jeong-hee institutes coercive military conscription, demanding 100 percent participation. Witness men are forcibly taken to military recruitment centers.

26. January 30, 1973

    Enforcement of Special Act on Criminal Punishment for Violation of Military Service Act, increasing maximum length of imprisonment for conscientious objectors from three years to ten years. Subjects some to repeated conscription.

27. 1953

    Imprisonment of conscientious objectors to military service by South Korea begins.