Human rights in South Korea

Human rights in South Korea have evolved significantly from the days of military dictatorship and reflects the state's current status as a constitutional democracy. Citizens regularly choose the President and members of the National Assembly in free and fair multiparty elections.

The government generally respects the human rights of its citizens; however, there are problems in some areas. The police and prison personnel have at times physically and verbally abused detainees, although such abuses have declined in recent years. The National Security Law criminalizes speech in support of Communism or North Korea; though it is unevenly enforced and prosecutions decline every year, there are still over 100 such cases brought annually. Women and minorities continue to face legal and societal discrimination. South Korea is a country of origin, transit, and destination for human trafficking. As a country of origin, women were trafficked primarily for sexual exploitation to the United States, sometimes through Canada, as well as to other Western countries and Japan. The government implemented strict laws to curb prostitution and human trafficking and to aid trafficking victims.

History

For most of the 20th century South Korean citizens lived under non-democratic rule, first by Japan and then by the authoritarian military regimes of Park Chung-hee, Chun Doo-hwan, and Roh Tae-woo. Civil liberties, most especially the freedoms of speech and association, were significantly curtailed and regime opponents risked torture and imprisonment; during World War II the comfort women system made sex slaves of many Korean girls and women. In 1967 the KCIA fabricated a spy ring, imprisoning 34 citizens, to solidify the rule Park Chung-hee. After the Gwangju Massacre in 1980, public desire for democracy and greater civil liberties was increasingly expressed; the years just before the 1988 Seoul Olympics saw an increase in pro-democracy activity that forced free elections to be held in 1992, putting long-time human rights activist Kim Young-sam into power.

Civil liberties

Individual rights

Basic rights such as free speech, freedom of religion and freedom of assembly and movement are generally strongly protected, though there are some minor restrictions. Every citizen over the age of 19 has the right to vote.

Official censorship does exist but is often easily evaded. The National Security Law makes it a crime to express sympathies with North Korea, and though it is not consistently enforced there are over 100 people jailed under it annually. A play about the Yodok prison camp in North Korea has come under significant pressure from authorities to tone down its criticism and the producers have been threatened with prosecution under the security law.[1] Some conservative groups have complained that police keep a tight watch on their demonstrations and that some people were prevented from attending rallies.[2] Former Unification Minister Chung Dong-young was once accused of attempting to distract reporters from a meeting of activists for human rights in North Korea. (Korean link) Several established human rights organizations, however, have held lectures and exhibits critical of North Korea with no interference.[3]

Censorship is more notable in the media. Songs and theater play in Japanese language or relating to Japan are generally prohibited.[4] Despite the lifting of most regulations in 1996 and 1998 following a Constitutional Court ruling that they were illegal, scenes of extreme violence can be barred and pornography is forbidden from showing penetration of any kind, and genitals must be blurred out. Though technically legal, pornography must still meet some minimum standards of artistic integrity, which are not clearly written in the law.[5] In 1997 a human rights film festival was blocked and the organizers arrested for refusing to submit their films for pre-screening.[6] The government blocks access to North Korean websites and, sometimes, to major overseas web sites that host blogs. When South Korean citizen Kim Sun-il was held hostage and beheaded in Iraq, the government moved to block access to websites with the video of his execution.[7] There is currently a debate over whether to revoke the ability to make anonymous comments online.[8]

The current administration of Roh Moo-hyun has frequently clashed with the media, especially the conservative newspapers The Chosun Ilbo and Dong-A Ilbo which have been particularly critical of him, and encouraged citizens to drop their subscriptions in favor of newspapers friendly to him. In a series of tax investigations, the companies most closely audited were also those least friendly towards the government.[9]

Minority and immigrant rights

South Korea is one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries in the world, and it is very difficult for outsiders to be fully accepted. Legal protections for the rights of minority populations are often weak. The large population of workers from Southeast Asia, over half of whom are estimated to be in the country illegally, face considerable discrimination both in and out of the workplace. Other significant immigrant groups affected by discrimination include Mongolians, Nigerians and Chinese.

Children of at least one ethnically non-Korean parent also face pervasive discrimination, so much so that a large number of them attempt suicide and it is rare for them even to finish high school; many are simply given up for adoption. This has led to the privately funded establishment of a school specifically targeted at children with an immigrated parent, with English and Korean as its main languages. When Hines Ward, who is of mixed Korean and African American heritage, earned MVP honors in Super Bowl XL, it sparked a debate in Korean society about the treatment mixed children receive.

There are few if any legal protections in place for gays and lesbians, and many of them are afraid to come out to their families, friends, and co-workers. The government blocked access from libraries, schools, state offices, and even internet cafes, to the website of the Lesbian and Gay Alliance Against Discrimination in Korea.[10] Gay men are not allowed to serve in the military, and in 2005 five soldiers were discharged for homosexuality.

See Also: Gay rights in South Korea

Refugees from North Korea

Many refugees from North Korea have complained that they find integration into South Korean society to be difficult; they say they often face social ostracism and a government that would rather they keep quiet about the human rights situation in the North. The government has taken major steps to minimize the impact the refugees might have on its policy towards the North. An internet radio station operated by refugees, broadcasting for those living in the North, was subject to a campaign of harassment that ended in it being unable to afford its rent after less than one month of operation. The station accused the government of either being behind the campaign or tacitly encouraging it.[11][12] The government also blocked activists from sending radios to the North, and a scuffle reportedly left activist Norbert Vollertsen injured.[13] At the same time, the South Korean human rights groups, being traditionally leftist, tend to ignore the plight of the North Korean refugees who are often misrepresented as "liars" or "losers" by the leftist media outlets, still somewhat supportive of Stalinist dictatorship in North Korea.

Criminal justice system

During the years of military rule, the police force was widely regarded as corrupt and abusive, although problems have decreased with democratization.

There are at least 1,000 prisoners of conscience, most of whom are there for refusing to serve in the military. Others are imprisoned under the National Security Law, for offenses that include publishing a pro-North Korean book, uploading socialist material to the internet, and joining organizations sympathetic to North Korea. The longest-held such prisoners are North Korean spies or collaborators who refused to recant their Communist beliefs; some were repatriated to the North but the rest are kept in solitary confinement in poor conditions.[14]

As the legal system is based on civil law, judgments are rendered by judges, not juries.

Conscription and abuses in the military

Military service is mandatory for nearly all South Korean men. There have been widespread reports of sexual abuse, including rape, and of degrading treatment in boot camp. There have been credible reports of recruits forced to eat and smear themselves with human feces.

Human trafficking

See also: Human trafficking and Prostitution in South Korea

South Korea is both a source and destination country for human trafficking; mainly Russian and Southeast Asian women are brought into the country for prostitution, many of whom are tricked into thinking they will have a legitimate job. Many of them serve the local US military population, though not all of them sleep with their clients.

Though as recently as 2001 the government received low marks on the issue, in recent years the government has made significant strides in its enforcement efforts. Human trafficking was outlawed and penalties for prostitution increased; the 2004 Act on the Prevention of the Sex Trade and Protection of its Victims was passed, toughening penalties for traffickers, ending deportation of victims, and establishing a number of shelters for victims. As of 2005 there were 144 people serving jail time for human trafficking. US forces in Korea have cooperated with the government's initiative.

National Human Rights Commission

On November 25, 2001, South Korea established the National Human Rights Commission, a governmental body charged with hearing human rights complaints and making recommendations for change. Though it has no enforcement powers and its decisions are not binding, those rulings are often widely reported and can generate controversy. It has recommended the abolition of the National Security Law and the death penalty, ending hair regulations and corporal punishment for public school students, and allowing draftees to claim conscientious objector status. Its current general secretary, Kwak Nohyun, is a renowned law professor who is unique among the global 'family' of National institutions for human rights in that he formerly served as a Commissioner. Some business leaders have called for the commission to be replaced or disbanded after a set of labor-friendly rulings.

External links

• National Human Rights Commission website
• South Korea coverage at Humantrafficking.org.
• Archive of South Korean coverage at the International Freedom of Expression Exchange.
• Archive of South Korea reports at Human Rights Watch.
• Archive of South Korea reports at Amnesty International.
• 2005 Country Report at Freedom House.
• "Prisoners of Conscience: Silenced for Speaking Out", Amnesty International, December 2002.
• "Sex, Laws and Video: Korea debates Internet freedom", Jaeyung Park, IPI Global Journalist Online, 1999.
• "Sex Among Allies: Military Prostitution in US/Korea Relations", Katherine H.S. Moon, Columbia Press, 1997.
• Asia Death Penalty blog focuses on the death penalty in Asia, including South Korea

News reports

• "Panel Demands Compensation for Bullied Former Marine", The Korea Times, January 19, 2006.
• "Transsexuals Call for Equal Treatment", The Korea Times, October 23, 2005.
• "S. Korean Military Still Tainted by Human Rights Abuses, Suicides", Yonhap News, March 29, 2005.
• "KOREA: The National Human Rights Commission of Korea: An assessment after one year", Kwak Nohyun, Asian Human Rights Commission, June 27, 2003.
• "Life and Death in Queer Korea", Huso Yi, The Gully, March 7, 2003.
• "South Korea: Making the National Human Rights Commission autonomous and effective", Amnesty International, April 24, 2002.
• "South Korea Apologizes for Dumped Chinese", People's Daily, October 10, 2001.

U.S. State Department Annual Reports

• Religious Freedom Report 2005
• Religious Freedom Report 2004
• Religious Freedom Report 2003
• Religious Freedom Report 2002
• Religious Freedom Report 2001
• Human Rights Report 2004
• Human Rights Report 2003
• Human Rights Report 2002
• Human Rights Report 2001
• Human Rights Report 2000
• Human Rights Report 1999

Further reading

• Sung, Suh. Unbroken Spirits: 19 Years in South Korea's Gulag, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, August 28, 2001, ISBN 0-7425-0122-1.