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S. Korea Won't Consider Same-Sex Couples Families

Jason Strother

   SEOUL - Faced with a looming demographic crisis, South Korea plans to
   expand the legal definition of family, but same-sex couples will not be
   included.

   Kim Ju-won and Park Sun-min were running errands at a shopping plaza
   during one of the rare occasions that the two homebodies leave their
   apartment. The women have lived together for five-years along with six
   rescue cats inBucheon, a city just outside the capital.

   Since first meeting through a fan club for their favorite South Korean
   celebrity, the couple has been selective about to whom they disclose
   their partnership.

   "We can't be one-hundred percent open about our relationship to
   everyone," said 36-year-old Park, who adds she worries about prejudice
   toward the LGBTQ community. "My parents still think Ju-won and I are
   just really good friends." '

   Kim, 30, says her family is more accepting. What's most disappointing,
   she explains, is her country's legal discrimination toward couples like
   them.

   "I've started thinking about my future, like getting married and having
   kids, but these aspirations are all limited because we don't have the
   right to have these things," she said.
   South Korea bans same-sex marriage and regulations make it very
   difficult for unwed partners to adopt children. And there are no laws
   that protect sexual and gender minorities from discrimination.

   Kim says she'd at least like to see the recognition of domestic
   partnerships, which she hopes could make same-sex couples eligible for
   many of the rights and financial incentives currently offered to only
   married men and women.

   But a new government plan to redefine what constitutes a family in
   South Korea would make that unlikely.

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