The courts did not doubt that Mr. Shin’s adherence to his conscience was genuine. In a decision dated October 7, 2014, the Ulsan District Court stated: “It is understandable that [Dong-hyuk Shin], upon becoming one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, had no other option but to commit the offense in the instant case, as he found it impossible to resolve the tension between the military duty and his inner conscience and religious conviction.”

Although the district court showed insight into Mr. Shin’s predicament, South Korea’s courts are constrained by the requirements of the military service law. Mr. Shin has been fined by the courts more than 16 million won ($13,322 U.S.) and six times sentenced to prison terms of at least six months, which were substituted with conditional sentences. In one case, a court ordered him to perform 200 hours of community service.

Mr. Shin said: “I was severely distressed and anxious. It seemed as if this test would never end. My frequent court appearances also caused distress to my family. I think my mother suffered as much as I did during those nine years, and the anxiety had a detrimental effect on her health. Knowing how distressed she was because of my situation, I felt heartbroken. And I also suffered economically. The cycle of call-ups and resulting prosecutions and convictions forced me to change my employment seven times because the obligation to attend court hearings multiplied my absences from work.”