A South Korean military court sentenced an army captain to a suspended prison term for having sex with a fellow soldier.

The captain's lawyer Kim In-sook called the decision a "ridiculous ruling" as she and her client maintained that he was being punished for having consensual sex with his partner in a private space.

She added that the military penal code, which finds homosexual activity punishable by up to two years in prison, was unconstitutional and limits LGBT soldiers' human rights. If the ruling stays, her client will be dishonorably discharged.

The captain was arrested last month amid allegations that the Republic of Korea Armed Forces was hunting down and prosecuting gay servicemen. The army denied the claims, saying it was conducting an investigation into a leaked video showing two male soldiers having sex.

According to sources, the witch hunt was launched by army chief of staff General Jang Jun-kyu, who identified over 50 LGBT soldiers through a myriad of deceptive means, including threatening soldiers to out one another, checking cellphone records and even using dating apps to trick soldiers into outing themselves.

The Military Human Rights Center for Korea called on Gen. Jang to resign his position, saying at the time that he was "obviously incapable of leading the army" after treating "men who did their best to protect their homeland as if they were culprits."

Following the unnamed captain's arrest, Lim Tae-hoon, who leads the MHRCK, said the ruling "turned the clock of history backward."

"Sexual minorities who are always living in danger of being outed by others now must live in fear that they could be tracked down at any time and interrogated over their private lives."

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in South Korea, but same-sex marriage is still forbidden. The topic is so taboo that it’s rare to see gay couples in public, with only 18 percent of Koreans viewing homosexuality as acceptable.

This stigma is intensified in the military, where almost all able-bodied South Korean men are required to serve for at least two years. Gay men are not exempt from service, but are banned from engaging in sex with other soldiers, creating an environment in which LGBT servicemen are forced to deny their identities for fear of discrimination.