Campaigners are calling on a witch-hunt for gay soldiers to end immediately.

According to campaign group the Military Human Rights Center for Korea (MHRCK), General Jang Jun-kyu, army chief of staff in South Korea launched a “track-down process” to find and out suspected gay personnel.

This included setting up fake profiles on dating apps to track down soldiers and expose them.

The process is thought to have identified 50 soldiers, 20 of whom now face charges under the country’s military anti-homosexuality laws.

Kyle Knight, a researcher in the LGBT rights programme at Human Rights Watch, accused South Korea’s government of hypocrisy.

He says it the government had “consistently voted to support measures at the United Nations that call for an end to discrimination against LGBT people, but has failed to uphold those principles at home”.

Although same-sex sexual activity is not illegal in the country, the army retains a code of conduct that bans homosexuality, and military service is mandatory.

Under South Korean law a soldier who commits “sodomy” or “other disgraceful conduct” can face up to two years in prison.