The defendant is innocent. The summary of this judgment shall be notified publicly.

The defendant, as the believers of a religious organization B, refuses to enlist in the army according to his religious conscience and has a justifiable reason under Article 88 (1) of the Military Service Act.

Nevertheless, the lower court erred by misapprehending the legal doctrine regarding the finding of guilty of the facts charged of this case, thereby affecting the conclusion of the judgment.

The Defendant, as the believers of the instant religious organization, was not enlisted without justifiable grounds until December 1, 201 of the same year after receiving a written notice of enlistment in active service under the name of the director of the Seoul Regional Military Manpower Office to enlistment in the Army Training Center on October 19, 2016 and the Defendant’s house located in Seodaemun-gu Seoul, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, and D, November 28, 2016.

The lower court found the Defendant guilty of the instant facts charged on the ground that the Defendant’s refusal to enlist according to his religious conscience does not constitute “justifiable cause” under Article 88(1) of the Military Service Act.

In determining whether there exists a “justifiable cause” as prescribed by Article 88(1) of the Military Service Act, the purpose and function of the Military Service Act, the position in which the performance of the duty of military service has been carried out in the overall legal order including the Constitution, social reality, and changing the times, etc., as well as the specific and individual circumstances that the Defendant

Military service objection and so-called conscientious objection mean refusing to perform the duty of military service accompanied by military training or arms on the ground of conscientious decisions based on conscience established in religious, ethical, moral, philosophical or similar motives.

It is not reasonable in light of the fundamental rights guarantee system and the overall legal order, including the freedom of conscience, to uniformly compel conscientious objectors to perform the duty of military service and impose sanctions such as criminal punishment against non-performance of the duty of military service, and also violates the spirit of free democracy such as tolerance and tolerance of the minority.

Therefore, it is based on genuine conscience.