expressed an opinion that the standard that specific circumstances related to the presence or absence of minor children should be considered is regrettable because the presence or absence of minor children is not a problem in the approval of gender recognition.459) B) Criticism on the Criteria for Gender Recognition in Korea Currently, there is no law in Korea that stipulates the criteria and procedures for gender recognition of transgender people,460) so courts at each level handle gender recognition in accordance with the administrative guidelines. As a result, the standards used by the courts are not consistent, and issues are raised for requiring surgical operations, such as genital removal, adverse to health, in particular. According to the ‘Guidelines for Handling Application for Permission for Gender Recognition of Transgender Persons,’ the court may require a transgender person to submit various supplementary documents to the application for gender recognition, including a doctor’s note confirming that ‘gender affirming surgery has been performed and currently has a physical genital appearance of the opposite sex of the biological sex’ and a diagnosis from a specialist confirming that ‘there is no current fertility and there is no possibility of fertility occurring or recovering in the future.’ The above documents are reference materials under the above Guideline, but in fact, it can be understood that genital reconstruction surgery and removal of fertility are essential among gender affirming surgeries in order to achieve gender recognition. In the case of FTM (Female to Male) transgender, gender recognition is permitted only with the removal of fertility, or without removal of fertility, but only in a very few cases; however, in the case of MTF (Male to Female) transgender, removal of fertility and genital reconstruction surgery are mandatory.461) 458) Amnesty International Press Release, Nov. 24, 2022. 459) Hope and Law, Nov. 24, 2022. 460) Transgender is a person whose gender identity is different from the sex assigned at birth. Not all transgenders undergo or require gender affirming surgery. 461) Ryu, Se-a, Surgical Requirements of the Supreme Court Ruling and Related Problems; NHRCK, Collection of Materials from the ‘Hearing on Transgender Recognition Criteria,’ Oct. 20, 2022. 193