The Seoul High Court delivered a landmark decision, ruling in favor of a same-sex couple demanding the same spousal coverage from the state health insurance program as heterosexual couples. It overturned a lower court’s ruling that marriage in South Korea is considered a union between a man and a woman, marking the first time a ROK court has recognized the legal rights of same-sex couples.

Although the court stated that it is difficult to acknowledge same-sex unions as equal to common-law marriage as defined by current laws, it acknowledged that those in same-sex marriages are fundamentally identical to those in