Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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S. Korean Court Backs Conscientious Objectors to Military Service

by VOA News

   South Korea's Supreme Court has ruled that religious or conscientious
   objection can be used as valid reason to refuse mandatory military
   service.

   The court's ruling on Thursday overturns a lower court's previous
   decision that upheld a conviction of man who refused induction because
   he is a Jehovah's Witness.

   The Supreme Court has previously upheld the law that mandates all South
   Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 complete at least two years of
   military service. Thursday's landmark ruling could affect the cases of
   more than 900 men facing similar punishment.

   The high court's ruling comes months after South Korea's Constitutional
   Court ruled that authorities had to provide an alternative form of
   service for conscientious objectors.