Conscientious objection in South Korea

Here's a new one. The Korea Herald reports that a judge has acquitted two Jehovah's Witnesses accused of avoiding military service on the ground that the government has been negligent in not providing some alternative form of national service. Excerpt:

Conscientious objectors have been uniformly sentenced to 18 months in prison. 

“Korea was presented with specific measures to adopt an alternative military program in 2007 and five relevant legislative bills, but all of them were discarded without being discussed,” the judge said. 

“If they were sufficiently reviewed, the country could have enacted a law (on the alternative service system) and implemented it, but that didn’t happen, because of the country’s negligence,” he said, addressing the need to solve the “unconstitutional state” by establishing an alternative military program.

This year alone, more than 30 conscientious objectors have been acquitted. But the Supreme Court maintained that conscientious objection is illegal, overturning the acquittals on 16 cases this year.

Still, there are rising hopes for a change.

Both nominees for chief justices at the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court signaled at their support for adopting an alternative military service program in the country.

The Constitutional Court ruled against conscientious objection twice, in 2004 and 2011, prioritizing national defense over individual rights. A decision has been pending with the court since a petition was filed in 2011.

Now there's a court with what President Lincoln called "a case of the slows."