South Korean lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex activists claimed they were denied entry to the National Assembly audit of the Gender Ministry, which was held Monday, although they had been previously scheduled to attend the session as witnesses.



The two activists included Ryu Min-hee, an attorney at the Korean Lawyers for Public Interest and Human Rights, and Jeong Min-seok, the director of the DDing Dong LGBTQ Youth Crisis Support Center, who said they were abruptly told Oct. 5 by the Assembly’s Gender Equality and Family Committee that they were no longer invited to attend the audit session as witnesses.



The decision was reportedly made by the committee’s chairwoman, Rep. You Seung-hee of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy. Their invitation as witnesses had been confirmed on Oct. 5, the same day it was revoked just hours earlier.



A group of human rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex issues activists protest last week in front of the central government building in Seoul against the Gender Ministry’s recent order for Daejeon Metropolitan City to delete articles that guarantee LGBTI rights in the city’s newly revised charter of gender equality. (Claire Lee/The Korea Herald)