Seoul City to Extend Number of Taxis for the Physically Disadvantaged On April 10th, the City of Seoul announced its “Plan for Improvement of Call Taxis for Disabled People” which includes the input of 50 extra taxis for physically disadvantaged people, bringing up the total number of cabs to 410. In 2012, the average… Continue Reading »
Canada Gives Asylum to South Korean Gay Conscientious Objector Dec 15, 2011 Woong Shik CHOI Canada granted a South Korean man refugee status because of the serious possibility that he might be persecuted in the military in South Korea for reasons of his sexual orientation and refusal to his military service. According to the Center… Continue Reading »
40% of Korean Firefighters are Depressed Dec 7, 2011 Joseph Chu Starting from June of this year, the National Fire Prevention Bureau has conducted a nationwide survey of approximately 30,000 firefighters to figure out whether these servicemen are suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder. Shockingly, around 40% of the servicemen claimed that they are suffering from… Continue Reading »
National Human Rights Commission of ROK Requests Police to Not Use Water Cannon in these Freezing Days Sodam Kim Though it’s freezing outside, the rally criticizing the rush of Korea-US FTA on the 22nd of this month continued to be held for days with thousands of people. As citizens’ backlash intensified, the police blasted the demonstrators… Continue Reading »
The Expression “Baldhead” Does Not Constitute Defamation Nov 18, 2011 Woong Shik CHOI The Supreme Court decided that insulting someone by calling the person “baldhead” cannot be punished since that expression itself does not have a derogatory connotation. The Supreme Court quashed the judgment of the Suwon District Court, which fined a person surnamed Kim… Continue Reading »
International Human Rights Moot Court Held for the First Time in Korea On 29th October, the first international human rights moot court was held at Korea University hosted by the Korea Human Rights Foundation (KHRF). Various organizations collaborated with KHRF in organizing the successful event; Korea University School of International Studies, and Korea University… Continue Reading »
National Human Rights Commission of Korea Holds a Meeting to Rescue “the Daughter of Tong-Yeong” Sodam Kim National Human Rights Commission of Korea recently co-hosted a forum with several civil organizations including Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights. This forum was the first one for a governmental organization to save Sook-Ja Shin, now… Continue Reading »
Social Minorities Space To Share Sept. 23. Soon Tae Choi On Sept 2nd, at the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) regional Daegu office, a young North Korean defector who settled in Saeteomin, South Korea gave a speech to the citizens of Daegu. He shared his experience defecting from North Korea and settling in… Continue Reading »
The City Assembly of Incheon Tries to Enact “The Charter on Teachers’ Rights” Sept. 7, 2011 Sodam Kim Since the adoption of the Seoul Charter of Student Rights, anxiety toward the harm of the rights of the teachers has been increasing. Many people were concerned because they thought that students would ignore teachers who lost… Continue Reading »
Increased Focus on Students’ Rights Leave Teachers’ Rights Behind Eugene Shin During the past year, the incidence of teachers’ rights violations have increased rapidly in the Gwangju/Jeonnam regions. These are cases where students have directly challenged their teachers with verbal abuse. This increase is particularly notable at a time when provincial education offices are increasingly… Continue Reading »