South Korea's Supreme Court Recognizes Conscientious Objection To Military Draft

According to AFP, South Korea's Supreme Court yesterday-- by a vote of 9-4-- ruled that religious and moral beliefs are valid reasons to refuse the country's military conscription. The ruling, which overruled prior precedent, came in the case of a Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objector who had been convicted by lower courts. Refusing the draft has typically resulted in an 18-month prison term. Some 19,000 conscientious objectors have been jailed since 1950, with 96 currently in prison.