The South Korean Supreme Court rules in favor of religious freedom

04-24-2024 South Korea (International Christian Concern) — South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled against a law school’s refusal to reschedule a job interview due to a conflict with religious beliefs. This decision underlines her commitment to religious freedom.

Jin Im, a Seventh-day Adventist, requested that the president of Chonnam National University make an exception to the school’s policy of randomly assigning interview times and groups to accommodate Im’s observance of the Sabbath. The university randomly assigned me to a Saturday morning interview session, which directly conflicted with the Seventh-day Adventist Sabbath observance.

I requested a schedule change from the university, but it was denied. Consequently, I was unable to attend her interview and the university denied her admission.

The original trial ruled against Im, but the appeals court overturned the case, stating: “The defendant, who is president of a national university and exercises public authority, must consider ways to allow the plaintiff to exercise her conscience interview, without making any concessions to the matter. the fairness and equality of the student selection process. The refusal to comply with the claimant’s request violates the principle of minimal infringement and is unlawful due to an abuse of discretion.”

The Supreme Court agreed with the appeals court, marking this as the first court decision to accept a Seventh-day Adventist’s request for a change in academic scheduling. In April and June 2010 and 2023, the Constitutional Court of South Korea ruled against requests by Seventh-day Adventists to change exam schedules that fell on Saturdays.

Following the latest ruling, a Supreme Court spokesperson said: “This is the first decision by the Constitutional Court or the Supreme Court to explicitly recognize a Seventh-day Adventist’s request for a change in the testing schedule. It clarifies the obligations of administrative authorities to prevent Seventh-day Adventists and other minorities from facing unnecessary discrimination because of their religious beliefs.”

The court’s ruling marks a historic event for South Korea’s small sect of Christianity. Only 44% of the country’s population identifies as a religious practitioner, of whom 45% identify as Protestant.

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