Sex/Gender Insecurities Trans Bodies and the South Korean Military

This article examines the South Korean military's treatment of trans people in the context of all "able-bodiedmen" being conscripted for two years. While transmen are exempt fromservice because they are not considered able-bodied men, trans women pose a significant complication for the rigid military conscription system, given that most trans women in their early twenties-the time when most will be drafted into service-have yet to change their legal gender identification. As themilitary's definition of one's anatomicalmakeup is the key criterion for conscription or exemption, the transgender body is a material manifestation of the insecurities of a rigid sex/gender system perpetuated by a masculine and patriarchal military institution. Written on the bodies of trans people is the militarization of the sex/gender system. The Cold War-born Korean military-a geopolitical binary pitting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea against the Republic of Korea-is faced with bodies in transition and resorts to anatomical determinism for the sake of national defense and (re)production.