The judgment below is reversed and the case is remanded to Seoul High Court.

The grounds of appeal are examined (to the extent of supplement in case of supplemental appellate briefs not timely filed).

1. In full view of the provisions of Article 1 and Article 2 subparag. 1 of the Refugee Act, Article 1 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (hereinafter “Refugee Convention”), and Article 1 of the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, the Minister of Justice shall recognize a foreigner as a refugee pursuant to the Refugee Convention if such a foreigner makes an application with respect to a foreigner, who is unable or does not want the protection of his country of nationality due to well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, or who, owing to such fear, is unable or does not want the protection of his country of nationality, has returned to the country in which he resided before entering the Republic of Korea.

In this context, “specified social group” means a group of individuals sharing a congenital characteristic, an irrecoverable common history, a characteristic or religious faith that constitutes an individual’s identity or conscience and that is perceived as different from that of another group in the social environment. The same sex orientation refers to a group of individuals sharing the part that may not be required to renounce it. If it violates the applicant’s moral norms or legal norms, it would be easy for the applicant to be exposed to gambling if it goes against the applicant’s country of origin, and the government of the country of origin refuses or is unable to protect the applicant’s right, it may be deemed that the same sex orientation constitutes a specific social group.

The term "persecution" to be received by the foreigner refers to "any act causing serious infringement or discrimination on essential human dignity, including threats to life, body or freedom."

(see, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 2007Du3930, Jul. 24, 2008). The sexual orientation or sexual identity of same sex is the same.