Gay Couple Wins ‘Landmark’ Health Insurance Case in South Korea

A gay couple won a lawsuit in South Korea granting them spousal coverage from the national health insurance program, an apparent first in the country that only legally recognizes marriage as between heterosexual couples.

In its ruling, the Seoul High Court on Tuesday overturned a lower court decision that defined marriage in South Korea as a union between a man and a woman, a court spokesman said. The appeals court didn’t give a specific reason for its decision, Yonhap News Agency said, calling the move a “landmark ruling.”

The court also ordered the National Health Insurance Service to allow the plaintiff to file as a spousal dependent. A lawyer of the plaintiff told reporters the ruling is the first case in which a court has recognized the legal status of same-sex couples, Yonhap reported.

The plaintiff has said he and his partner were discriminated against because the NHIS grants spousal coverage to common-law partners, according to Yonhap.

The plaintiff said the NHIS had granted him coverage as a dependent spouse in February 2020 but later reversed its decision when it found out he was in a same-sex union, Yonhap said. He then filed the suit seeking coverage as a spousal dependent.

Photograph: People wave a rainbow pride flag during the Korea Queer Culture Festival 2019 in front of city hall on June 01, 2019 in Seoul, South Korea. The annual festival promoting the LGBT rights occasionally had been disrupted by anti-LGBT groups in the past, although homosexuality is not illegal in the country. Photo credit: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images.