earticle

영어

This paper has reviewed over the real factors that brought legalization of a practice of religious faith represented by conscientious objection to military service in the Republic of Korea. This country had long refused its legalization typically due to such reason that the Korean War had not been over completely but just entered into an armistice state. This brought a question to the author what were then the real factors that had brought it happen because the armistice state had not been changed. After comparatively reviewing over the Constitutional Court Decisions in 2011, one for prevention and in 2018, the other for grant in legalization, the author found that the main factors that made it possible were the long-time suffering of the objectors. Also, their suffering had no merit to the military draft system and so national defense. And this mainly became the cause that had moved the South Korean public including the law makers as well as the judges. This legalization gives one implication that could be applied to other trials to legalize a religious faith-based practice by the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification such as religious objection to the Anti-discrimination Law which would soon allow same-sex marriage in this country.