Origin from 2018
On 1 November 2018, South Korea's Supreme Court ruled nine to four that conscientious objection to military service is a justifiable ground for refusal rather than a crime, overturning the court's own 2004 position and ending a practice that had sent more than eighteen thousand Jehovah's Witnesses to prison since the Korean War, the country responsible for the large majority of the world's conscientious objector imprisonments. A June 2018 Constitutional Court ruling had already ordered the government to create an alternative civilian service by December 2019. Sixty five Witnesses were released in the ruling's wake, the last on 28 February 2019, ending the imprisonment of Jehovah's Witnesses in South Korea for this reason entirely.
Facts
Dates
Start YearSourced to the subject's own account End YearSourced to the subject's own accountSixty five Witnesses were released in the wake of the November 2018 ruling, the last on 28 February 2019, ending the imprisonment of Jehovah's Witnesses in South Korea for this reason entirely. StatusSourced to the subject's own accountRevived marks the end of a decades long criminal practice specifically targeting the tradition's core teaching of neutrality in South Korea; it does not mark a new arrival, since Witnesses had practiced in South Korea throughout the period of suppression, and it does not mark a change of doctrine. Learn More
How South Korea Ended Sixty Five Years of Imprisoning Jehovah's Witness Objectors
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
On 1 November 2018, South Korea's Supreme Court ruled nine to four that conscientious objection to military service is a justifiable ground for refusal rather than a crime. The ruling overturned the court's own 2004 position and ended a practice that had sent more than eighteen thousand Jehovah's Witnesses to prison since the Korean War, South Korea being responsible for the large majority of the world's conscientious objector imprisonments.
The court did not act alone. A June 2018 Constitutional Court ruling had already ordered the government to create an alternative civilian service by December 2019, so the Supreme Court's November decision followed a constitutional finding that the existing system could not continue unchanged.
The practical effect followed within months. Sixty five Witnesses still held in prison were released in the ruling's wake, the last of them on 28 February 2019, ending the imprisonment of Jehovah's Witnesses in South Korea for conscientious objection entirely, after more than six decades of continuous practice.
What the 2018 rulings changed for the Jehovah's Witnesses in South Korea was closing a sixty five year record of imprisonment in the space of a single court term, converting a country that had jailed more conscientious objectors than any other into one building a civilian alternative for the belief it had spent decades punishing.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Korean directly: "Witnesses to prison since the Korean War, the country responsible for the large majority of the world's conscientious objector imprisonments."
Occurred In
Spread Event Of
The tradition's first twenty-first century event outside the ongoing Russian suppression already on this map, closing a gap since the 2017 Russia ban and set in a different country entirely.
In the Other Atlases
Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.