South Korea's top court overturned on Thursday a 2019 military court conviction of two soldiers sentenced to suspended prison terms for a same-sex relationship, in a ruling hailed by a rights group as a milestone step against a much-criticised law.
The Supreme Court said the conviction by the military court did not take into account whether the defendants' relations, which took place in a personal space, were consensual, and thus excessively restricting their right to sexual self-determination.
"Punishing these incidents could ... infringe upon the right to equality, the dignity and value as human and the right to pursue happiness as guaranteed by the Constitution," the Supreme Court said in its ruling.
