Background
In August, tens of thousands of people protested peacefully in the capital, Seoul, against the release of Fukushima nuclear wastewater by Japan into the Pacific Ocean. In September, around 30,000 protesters took part in a march for climate justice in Seoul.
Right to a healthy environment
In April, the government adopted the National Basic Plan for Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth that includes plans for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and supplementing resulting reductions in energy production capacity with other technologies such as nuclear power.
In June, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) submitted an opinion to the Constitutional Court in support of petitions contesting the constitutionality of the government’s Carbon Neutrality Act. The opinion stated that the greenhouse emission reduction targets were too low and would unjustly pass on the burden of cutting emissions to future generations.
The Coal Phase-out bill, first proposed in 2022, that includes provisions to stop coal power generation projects currently under construction and to prohibit new licences, was still pending at year’s end. In the meantime, the construction of a new coal-fired power station in Samcheok, Gangwon province, continued.
Freedom of expression, association and assembly
The erosion of rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly continued against a backdrop of a government clampdown on “illegal” protests.
In January, the city-run transport company Seoul Metro filed a suit against the disability advocacy group Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD), claiming KRW 601.45 million (approximately USD 450,000) in damages for train delays and losses caused by SADD protests since 2021 against lack of disabled access to trains. As part of SADD’s campaign for improved access to public transport for people with disabilities, wheelchair users repeatedly boarded and disembarked from trains to draw attention to their calls for more spending on wheelchair ramps, elevators at metro stations and other mobility measures.
In September, the Constitutional Court ruled that provisions in the National Security Law prohibiting “anti-state”, “enemy-benefiting” and “espionage” activities were constitutional. The law, which has been subject to multiple legal challenges, has been used to silence dissent and to arbitrarily prosecute individuals for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association.
Also in September, the Constitutional Court struck down a law that punished attempts to send anti-Pyongyang messages, for example leaflets carried by balloon or via cross-border rivers, to North Korea with up to three years’ imprisonment, on the grounds that it was inconsistent with constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression.
Workers’ rights
Harassment of labour activists intensified in the context of President Yoon’s anti-union rhetoric. Police launched criminal investigations into the activities of dozens of trade union members during the year and conducted raids on union offices. A police search and seizure operation on the office of the Korean Construction Workers Union (KCWU) took place on 1 May. On the same day, KCWU executive, Yang Hoe-dong, set fire to himself in front of the Gangneung branch of Chuncheon District Court and died the next day. He was under investigation in connection with his union work, including accusations that he had “blackmailed” construction companies to pay union fees and hire unionized workers.
On 31 May, police demolished a memorial altar to Yang Hoe-dong, injuring four people, and threatened to use pepper spray to break up a peaceful rally organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.
Discrimination
Women’s and girls’ rights
The government continued with its controversial plan to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, but had not done so by the end of the year. In October, the government announced significant cuts to the 2024 budget for preventing violence against women and supporting survivors, provoking strong criticism from hundreds of women’s rights organizations. On 24 August, protests were held in Seoul demanding that the authorities do more to end violence against women following the murder of a woman earlier in the month in Sillim-dong park, in the Gwanak district of Seoul.
In August, a network of campaigners for safe abortions lodged a petition with the NHRCK stating that the government was violating the right to health of women by failing to enshrine the right to abortion into law. In November, the UN Human Rights Committee urged the government to take appropriate legislative and other measures to implement a 2019 Constitutional Court decision which decriminalized abortion in order to ensure effective access to safe abortion.
LGBTI people’s rights
In February, the Seoul High Court ordered the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) to resume health insurance coverage for Kim Yong-min, as a dependent of his same-sex partner. It was the first court ruling in South Korea to legally recognize same-sex partners. The ruling found that the NHIS’s spousal insurance system was discriminatory because it did not grant equal benefits to people in same-sex relationships.1 The NHIS appealed the ruling.
In May, a group of cross-party National Assembly members tabled a marriage equality bill to amend the civil code in order to permit same-sex marriage. The bill was not expected to be adopted but was regarded as an important symbolic step in increasing pressure on the government to expand the definition of “family”.
In May, the NHRCK made recommendations to the Supreme Court on revising its rules relating to gender recognition for trans people to ensure compliance with human rights standards. These had not been acted on by year’s end.
On 26 October, the Constitutional Court, for the fourth time, upheld Article 92-6 of the Military Criminal Act, which criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual acts within the Korean military.2
Refugees’ and migrants’ rights
A Constitutional Court decision offered the prospect of greater protection for refugees and migrants in South Korea. On 23 March, it found that the provisions of the Immigration Control Act, including indefinite detention of foreign nationals subject to deportation and the absence of an independent review of detention decisions, were unconstitutional and violated the principles of proportionality and due process. The Ministry of Justice said it would challenge the ruling.
Children’s rights
On 23 March, the Constitutional Court found that provisions of the Act on Registration of Family Relations, making birth registration by the biological father of a child born to unmarried parents almost impossible, violated the constitution. It confirmed that the right to birth registration must be guaranteed to all children in the country, regardless of their nationality or status.
Sexual and gender-based violence
On 26 January, the Ministry of Justice rejected plans, announced earlier the same day by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, to revise the legal definition of rape under the criminal code to include non-consensual sex. The current definition requires proof of “violence or intimidation” which is inconsistent with international standards under which lack of consent is a fundamental element of rape.
Death penalty
Several developments raised concerns that South Korea may be considering resuming executions. In April, the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office announced plans to introduce the death penalty for infanticide and for crimes relating to the sale and distribution of drugs to children. In August, the justice minister ordered correctional institutions to inspect and carry out any necessary maintenance of their execution facilities.
