Same-sex partners So Sung-wook, left, and Kim Yong-min hold hands as they leave the Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, Thursday. (Yonhap)

South Korea’s Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of a same-sex couple, who sought to receive the same spousal coverage as heterosexual couples from the National Health Insurance Service.

Under the current law, South Korea does not legally recognize same-sex marriage. However, Thursday’s ruling marks the first time that the top court recognized the legal rights of a same-sex couple.

The top court’s landmark ruling upholds a high court’s decision in February last year, that demanded the NHIS recognize So Sung-wook as eligible for national health insurance coverage under his partner Kim Yong-min’s subscription. The Seoul High Court’s ruling last year overturned a lower court’s decision made the previous year that the NHIS had no legal obligations to expand the same benefits to same-sex couples.

“The National Health Insurance Act does not exclude a non-earning partner in a same-sex relationship (from its beneficiaries),” read the Supreme Court ruling. The ruling has viewed same-sex couples as an “economic community akin to a conjugal partnership.”

“It is a discrimination of sexual orientation to exempt (a beneficiary from the same benefits as heterosexual couples). It is also an act of discrimination that infringes on the rights to be treated equally under the law, the right to pursue happiness, freedom of privacy and violates human dignity and value,” it added.

In a press conference held outside the Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, So and Kim both shed tears of joy as they held hands.

“We hope that the sexual minorities can have equal access to the marriage system here (as heterosexual couples),” So told reporters.

“We also hope (today’s ruling) would work as a bridge towards achieving marriage equality,” he added.

They left the court holding rainbow umbrellas, symbolizing the support for the LGBTQ+ community.

The years-long court battle started when the plaintiff So Seong-wook filed the administrative lawsuit against the NHIS in February 2021, taking issue with the state-run agency’s order against him to pay insurance premiums, demanding back-payments from So, who was the non-earning partner in the relationship.

A spouse without a source of income is exempted from making a health insurance contribution if the other person is employed and is an employer-provided policyholder.

So and his partner Kim were registered as a national health insurance policyholder and dependent in February 2020. The agency had initially recognized So as a dependent and offered him coverage under Kim’s employer-based health insurance program, but reversed its decision and imposed late fees in October 2020, claiming that his marital status was not validated.