"My Wife's ID Number Changed from 1 to 2... Is It a Gender Transition?"

Discovered "Correction" Note on Family Register Due to Moving Issue
"I Will Live Well with My Wife" - A Request Left Through a Review

A post by a husband who discovered that his wife is transgender after obtaining documents related to her marriage for moving has become a hot topic among netizens. On the 25th, an anonymous office worker community called 'Blind' featured a post titled "Is my wife transgender?" The author, Mr. A, recently needed to register a leasehold right due to a deposit issue and obtained his wife's resident registration certificate on her behalf. There, Mr. A found a strange phrase in the document: "Correction of Resident Registration Number."

Above that phrase was his wife's previous resident registration number, and the last digit of that number started with '1.' Feeling something was off, Mr. A asked netizens for advice, saying, "The previous resident registration number starts with 1, but now it should definitely be 2. I know because I checked her ID." Netizens responded with advice such as "Check it properly again," "How could you not know this?" and "If this is true, it's a fraudulent marriage."

On the 25th, an anonymous post titled "Is my wife transgender?" was uploaded on the workplace anonymous community 'Blind.' The post has since been deleted.
[Photo by online community 'Blind']

On the 27th, Mr. A posted a follow-up on Blind, stating, "After posting, I confirmed the facts with my wife and had many conversations with her throughout the night," and added, "In conclusion, we are trying to live happily together." He continued, "It was a big lie, but everyone lives with and harbors at least one lie, and accepting that lie leaves only sincerity," and asked, "Please offer congratulations rather than worries."

Meanwhile, transgender gender correction was first permitted domestically in 2020. Former Chief Judge Ko Jong-ju (then head of the Family Support Division at Busan District Court) published a thesis in 2002 arguing for the need to allow registration corrections for transgender individuals based on constitutional human dignity and the pursuit of happiness, and in the same year, he approved the first gender correction for a transgender person who had undergone sex reassignment surgery. Transgender broadcaster Harisu also received gender correction approval from the Incheon District Court in December of that year.

In 2006, the Supreme Court issued its first ruling permitting transgender gender correction. After the ruling, the Supreme Court created the 'Guidelines for Handling Cases of Gender Correction Applications by Transgender Persons,' which set the criteria for approval. However, at that time, the criteria included a requirement for genital surgery, but in 2020, the Supreme Court revised the guidelines to change the genital surgery requirement to a 'reference item.' Subsequently, in October 2021, an appellate court approved for the first time a woman who had not undergone genital surgery to change her gender to male.