In a first, a South Korean court says same-sex partners should get government benefits

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/21/ [login to see] /south-korea-same-sex-partner-government-health-insurance
A South Korean appeals court ruled Tuesday that government health insurance should offer spousal coverage to same-sex couples.

The landmark ruling is the country's first legal recognition of social benefits for same-sex couples. South Korea has not legalized same-sex marriage or civil unions.

The 32-year-old plaintiff So Seong-uk sued the National Health Insurance Service in 2021, after the agency revoked his status as a dependent to his partner Kim Yong-min.

So and Kim held a wedding to publicly declare their relationship in 2019. The next year, the health insurance agency accepted Kim's request to list So as his dependent, on the same grounds that it provides spousal benefits to heterosexual couples in de facto marriage.

But when the media started to report the couple's story, the agency annulled the decision, saying it was a "mistake," and that So did not qualify. A lower court ruled in favor of the agency in 2021, saying same-sex unions cannot be deemed the same as heterosexual unions.