{"id":2200210,"date":"2023-02-22T01:40:23","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T01:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2200210"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:09:40","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:09:40","slug":"rok-court-rules-in-favor-of-gay-couple-seeking-spousal-health-insurance-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/02\/rok-court-rules-in-favor-of-gay-couple-seeking-spousal-health-insurance-coverage\/","title":{"rendered":"ROK Court rules in favor of gay couple seeking spousal health insurance coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Seoul High Court <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.yna.co.kr\/view\/AEN20230221003151315?section=national\/national\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">delivered<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 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\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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 common-law marriages, except that they are homosexual, given that they form the highly identical union based on emotional and economic needs and duties to support and be faithful to each other. The court ruled that on that basis, withdrawing spousal insurance coverage from same-sex couples constitutes discrimination based on sexual orientation and goes against the object of the state health insurance benefits intended for dependents who economically rely on employed family members.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why It Matters<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although this is the first court ruling in South Korea that recognizes the status of a same-sex partner as a dependent eligible for national health insurance, it does not mean that it recognizes the legal status of same-sex marriage. However, it is still an important milestone in a country for a court to argue that withdrawing spousal insurance coverage from same-sex couples constitutes discrimination based on sexual orientation. South Korea still has no <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.koreaherald.com\/view.php?ud=20220207000530\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">anti-discrimination law<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which has negatively affected minorities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The court\u2019s decision could set a precedent to prevent discrimination against other sexual minorities <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">not just over insurance payments but same-sex couples\u2019 rights in general. However, the ruling could elicit protests from the country\u2019s more conservative groups.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-tags\"><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/culture-society\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Culture &amp; Society<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/domestic-politics\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Domestic Politics<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019s ruling that marriage in South Korea is considered a union between a man and a woman, marking the first time a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2200211,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[25,27],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>ROK Court rules in favor of gay couple seeking spousal health insurance coverage - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/02\/rok-court-rules-in-favor-of-gay-couple-seeking-spousal-health-insurance-coverage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ROK Court rules in favor of gay couple seeking spousal health insurance coverage - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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. 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