If a, b are n × n matrices, Ando proved that Young's inequality is valid for their singular values: if p > 1 and 1/p + 1/q = 1, thenLater, this result was extended for the singular values of a pair of compact operators acting on a Hilbert space by Erlijman, Farenick and Zeng. In this paper we prove that if a, b are compact operators, then equality holds in Young's inequality if and only if |a| p = |b| q , obtaining a complete characterization of such a, b in relation to other (operator norm) Young inequalities. Operator analogues of this elegant fact are considered, following the fundamental paper by T. Ando [1] for n × n matrices, and an extension for compact operators by J. Erlijman, * 2010 MSC. Primary 15A45, 47A30; Secondary 15A42, 47A63.