South Korea’s first transgender soldier found dead

South Korea’s first transgender soldier, who was forcibly discharged after having gender reassignment surgery, has been found dead, news agency Yonhap has reported.

Firefighters found Byun Hee-soo, 23, in her home in Cheongju, south of Seoul, after a mental health counsellor called emergency services to report that she had not been heard from since Sunday, the agency reported on Wednesday.

Police are investigating her death, it said.

Byun, formerly a staff sergeant, enlisted voluntarily in 2017 and went on to have gender confirmation surgery in 2019 in Thailand.

The defence ministry classified her loss of male genitals as a mental or physical handicap, and a military panel ruled in early 2020 that Byun would be compulsorily discharged. South Korea prohibits transgender people from joining the military, and Byun was the first active-duty soldier to have gender reassignment surgery.

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Byun had previously waived her anonymity to appear at a press conference at the time to plead to be allowed to serve, wearing her fatigues and saluting the gathered journalists and cameras.

“I’m a soldier of the Republic of Korea,” she said, her voice breaking. Serving in the military had always been her childhood dream, she said.

“Putting aside my sexual identity, I want to show everyone that I can be one of the great soldiers defending this country,” she continued. “Please give me that chance.”

The local mental health care clinic said Byun made an attempt to kill herself three months ago.

South Korea remains deeply conservative about matters of sexual and gender identity and is less tolerant of LGBT+ rights than some other parts of Asia, with many gay and transgender Koreans living largely under the radar.

South Korea has a conscript army to defend itself against the nuclear-armed North, with all able-bodied male citizens obliged to serve for nearly two years.

International rights groups have expressed concern about the way the country treats gay soldiers, who are banned from engaging in same-sex acts and can face up to two years in prison if caught – even though such actions are legal in civilian life.

International suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. In the UK the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14.