South Korea to revise youth manual that listed homosexuality as delinquency

The manual, distributed by the Korea Youth Counseling & Welfare Institute, an affiliate of the ministry, grouped homosexuality alongside sexual violence, theft and drug addiction under "delinquency-related issues." The wording first appeared in the manual's third revised edition, published in December 2019, and remained in the fourth revised edition published in December 2025, the JoongAng Daily reported.

The issue surfaced on November 2, when a local news outlet reported the wording. Human rights groups led by a support center for LGBTQ youth issued a joint statement on November 4 demanding the ministry fix the manual, and the ministry responded the same day.

"We regret that the classification of content concerning sexual minorities as a type of delinquency-related problem in the manual has caused discomfort and concern to sexual minority youth and those involved," the ministry said in its statement.

The institute blamed an error by the manual's writing team, which it said had carried the wording over from older reference material, according to the JoongAng Daily. The ministry said it would correct the passage immediately and overhaul the manual after consulting counseling experts, and would strengthen human rights training for youth counselors.

The ministry also pointed to an August revision of a separate human rights protection manual for staff at youth shelters, which prohibited shelters from refusing admission or otherwise disadvantaging young people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The ministry said it gathered feedback from LGBTQ+ support organizations before making those changes.