• Convergence Security Journal
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.39-47
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• 2017

In the Republic of Korea, punishment of conscientious objectors is rising as a social issue once again. Large number of news articles on the punishment of conscientious objectors are updated on portal sites several times a day. The background for this phenomena is based on the disagreement between the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court has ruled that it is constitutional for the government to punish conscientious objectors who denied their service for religious belief according to the Clause 1 of the Article 88 of the Military Service Law. However, district courts have taken different stance in the lower instance. 6 rulings in 2015, 7 rulings in 2016, and 16 rulings in the first half of 2017 has declared the conscientious objectors as not guilty. At the same time, the issue is becoming more controversial as the Jeju District Court has made two different rulings on the punishment of conscientious objectors who denied their military service for religious belief. Therefore, the study aims to find out whether conscientious objection can be included as a reasonable cause under the Clause 1 of the Article 88 of the Military Service Law, and take thorough review on the interpretation and the application of Article 18 of the Human Rights Covenant by examining the rulings at the Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, and District Courts.