COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD EXAMINES SECOND PERIODIC REPORT OF REPUBLIC OF KOREA

The Committee on the Rights of the Child reviewed today a second periodic report of the Republic of Korea on national efforts to comply with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Introducing the report, Eui-yong Chung, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that during the last five years the country had made extensive progress in the field of child rights, while Kyung-tae Moon, Deputy Minister for Planning and Management of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, added that the global economic crisis, which had caused a sudden loss of employment in the country, had recently increased the number of disadvantaged children.
Responding to questions put by the Committee, members of the Korean delegation said among other things that while corporal punishment was prohibited in juvenile training centres and child-care centres, the practice of corporal punishment in schools depended on the rules and regulations of each school; that discrimination against children born out of wedlock appeared to be fading; and that a preference for boys had led to a higher ratio of boys among the population, a matter the Government was trying to rectify through awareness-raising programmes.
The Committee will issue its formal conclusions and recommendations on the second periodic report of the Republic of Korea towards the end of its three-week session, which concludes 31 January.
Other members of the Korean delegation were Youn-soo Lee, Counsellor, Kang-il Hu, First Secretary, and Sung-ki Yi, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea in Geneva; So-young Ann, Director, and Hak-gi Kim, Deputy Director, of the Ministry of Health and Welfare; Man-kee Min, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Justice; Kyung-ah Lee, Assistant Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Byeong-gap Choi, Senior Education Researcher, and Kyo-sun Park, Education Researcher of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development; Sang-won Jung, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; Joong-ho Lee, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Labour; Eui-su Hwang, Assistant Director of the Commission on Youth Protection; and Moon-hee Suh, Research Fellow, and Yu-ku Kang, Researcher of the Korean Institute for Health and Social Affairs.
As one of 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Republic of Korea is required to present periodic reports to the Committee on efforts to implement the international treaty.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. Thursday, 16 January, it will take up a second periodic report of Italy (document CRC/C/70/Add.13).
Report of Republic of Korea
The second periodic report of the Republic of Korea (document CRC/C/70/Add.14) lists a number of administrative, legislative and judicial measures undertaken during the last five years and states that Korea had made every endeavour to broaden the understanding of children's rights and to increase children's physical and emotional protection. The main goals are to ensure that "every child should have human dignity and equal rights without discrimination" and "receive respect as the emerging future generation".
The report notes that the Korean Government has taken numerous steps to promote the rights of children. Also, a large number of non-governmental organizations and agencies such as the Korean Council for Children's Rights, the Korea Neighbourhood Society, the Korean Child Protection Association and UNICEF/Korea have contributed to the promotion of children's well-being.
The report notes among other things that children born out of wedlock may be subjected to social disadvantages owing to the emphasis on the social custom of monogamy and legal marriage originating from Confucianism. However, the Government attempts to treat such children equally to those born within wedlock in terms of status and property. The Civil Code does not discriminate against the children born out of wedlock, the report states.
Introduction of Report
EUI-YONG CHUNG, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations at Geneva, said that during past five years, his country had made remarkable progress in the promotion and protection of human rights, particularly children's rights. The outgoing President, Kim Dae-Jung, whose human rights advocacy won him the Nobel Peace Prize, had made a great contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights in the country. The new President-elect, Mr. Roh, had also been a prominent advocate for human rights throughout his career.
Mr. Chung said his country would continue to contribute to the universal realization of human rights, not only in the Republic of Korea but throughout the world.
KYUNG-TAE MOON, Deputy Minister for Planning and Management of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Republic of Korea, said that following the financial crisis of 1997, the Government had embarked on a programme of bold reforms to restructure the national economy and to strengthen democratic values and market practices. Those reforms were enacted according to the guidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of rescue-loan terms.
During the implementation of those reforms, Mr. Moon said, a considerable number of workers were laid off. That added to the nation's already swollen unemployment figure that had resulted from the economic contraction triggered by the financial crisis. The sudden loss of employment caused family dissolutions and increased the number of children living in vulnerable situations.
Among developments since the country's initial report was submitted five years ago, Mr. Moon said, was a sweeping reform of the Child Welfare Act in 2000. The newly amended Act stipulated the principles of non-discrimination and the right to life, survival and development. In 1997, the Government had promulgated a Special Act for the Punishment of Democratic Violence, which had been in effect since July 1998. That Act served not only to punish offenders but also to separate and deal with violence against children. It also took into consideration the serious impact of repeated and chronic domestic violence on the formation of a child's personality.
Mr. Moon said an Act on Protection of Youth from Sexual Exploitation had been enacted and had come into force in February 2000. A National Human Rights Commission also had been established in 2001, among other things to protect and promote child rights; and a Ministry of Gender Equality had been established in 2000.
Mr. Moon said his country recognized that there was much more work to be done in the field of protecting and promoting child rights.
Discussion
Members of the Committee raised a series of questions under the topics of general implementation of the Convention and definition of the child. The questions focused on the structure of the National Human Rights Commission and children's ability to lodge complaints with the Commission; the withdrawal of the State party of its reservations to the Convention; the causes of child deaths resulting from various accidents and acts of suicide; the participation of children in the preparation of the report; the limited freedoms of students in their own associations; the practice of corporal punishment; the preparation of children for a culture of peace in the event of unification of the two Koreas; cultural bias against disabled children; and protection of adopted children.
Responding to the questions, members of the Korean delegation said among other things that the National Human Rights Commission received complaints from victims of human rights violations and made recommendations as appropriate to the competent authorities. Since its establishment in 2001, the Commission had played an important role in the promotion and protection of human rights, including those of children. The Commission also provided guidelines on human rights instruction in the schools.
The Chairperson of the Korean National Human Rights Commission, who had accompanied the Korean delegation as an observer, said that his organization received had 3,000 complaints of human rights abuses during its first year of existence. Only one case of child-rights abuse was received by the Commission -- that came from the parents of a disabled child who was refused admission to a kindergarten. The Commission was composed of 11 commissioners and had a staff of 215 persons. Due to the patriarchal attitudes and Confucian thinking, the enhancement of the rights of the child was not progressing as desired. The Commission was, however, endeavouring to change that trend.
The Korean Government was seriously considering withdrawing its reservations entered upon the ratification of the Convention, the delegation said. The State had ratified the Convention in November 1991 with reservations on three articles which were contradictory to the laws of Korea. The reservations were on guarantees of the child's right to maintain contact with the parents (article 9, paragraph 3); permission for the adoption of a child by the competent authorities only (article 21 (a)); and reassessment of the verdict of a child's trial (article 40, paragraph 2 (b)(v). The Government might take some time before proposing measures to withdraw its reservations, the delegation said.
Corporal punishment was prohibited in juvenile training centres and child care centres, the delegation said. However, the practice of corporal punishment in schools depended on the rules and regulations of each school. The Government had been collecting opinions from teachers and members of non-governmental organizations with the view to introducing new legal measures concerning the use of corporal punishment.
Committee Experts went on to query the Korean delegation on the subjects of general principles, civil rights and freedoms, and family environment and alternative care. Experts sought information on how children born out of wedlock were registered and why they should be registered; the status of foreigners in the country and the assurances they given on non-discrimination; the prohibition of female discrimination at workplace; the attitude of society on the sex of the unborn child; the participation of children in the family and in schools; the payment of child maintenance by absentee or divorced fathers; the forms of assistance provided to single-parent families; the situation of child-headed families; and the prevention of child abuse and neglect.
In response to the questions raised by Committee Experts, the members of the Korean delegation said among other things that there had been a public debate on how to treat children born out of wedlock in recent years. The emerging trend was that all children should receive equal treatment as citizens of the nation.
Children of foreigners or immigrants could be admitted to primary schools and they were not discriminated against, the delegation said.
There were 272 escapee North Korean children in the Republic of Korea in 2002, and their number was increasing, the delegation said. They were admitted to schools in accordance with the level of education they had had in their home country. They were exonerated from any school fees.
Because of the preference for boys in Korean society, boys constituted a high ratio of the population compared to girls, the delegation said. The Government had launched awareness-raising programmes against society's preference for boys. In the meanwhile, Korean society had a low fertility rate of 1.3 per cent.
There were about 50,000 disabled children in Korea, accounting for 0.39 per cent of the total number of children as of the end of 1997, the delegation said. Most disabled children lived with their families in their own homes, but children with serious disabilities were placed in welfare institutions. Some 13,000 disabled children were not attending school because of the seriousness of their conditions.
The Civil Act allowed a boy who reached 18 full years of age and a girl of 16 full years of age might marry with the consent of their respective parents, the delegation said. The difference in the age standard for marriage between men and women was in line with the gap in "biological and mental development".
Although a single-parent situation was not always visible in society, it remained a problem to the Government, the delegation said. The Government had been helping unmarried mothers in centres where they could stay for three years with their children.
There were 13,000 child-headed households in the country, with such children taking care of their economically weak families, including children under 18 years of age, the delegation said. The Government had taken measures to reduce the number of child-headed households by placing the dependent children with relatives.
The rate of child deaths associated from accidents and suicide had not improved much in Korean society, the delegation said. However, the child mortality rate connected with preventable diseases had been noticeably reduced. The Government had formulated in 2002 under the Prime Minister's Office a Comprehensive Plan for Child Protection and Rearing, consisting of 48 measures.
Committee Experts went on to raise questions under the main topics of basic health and welfare; education, leisure and cultural activities; and special protection measures. Questions were raised, among other things, on the level of budgetary allocations for health services; the age of criminal responsibility; the dropout rate in middle and higher secondary education; a decrease in breastfeeding; and the situation of public and private kindergarten institutions.
Members of the Korean delegation said among other things that the Government had been placing much emphasis on the expansion of public health services. At least 60 per cent of the budget allocated to the Ministry of Health and Welfare went directly to health-related activities.
The rate of breastfeeding in Korea had fallen to 10 per cent, which was low compared with other countries, the delegation said. The Government had been campaigning to persuade mothers to continue the practice of breastfeeding.
In 2002, labour inspectors visited had 524 establishments and had found 369 cases of infringement involving under-aged workers, the delegation said.
Preliminary Concluding Remarks
LUIGI CITARELLA, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur for the report of the Republic of Korea, said the Committee had been enriched by the information provided by the Korean delegation. The Committee had also been informed about the efforts the Government was making to promote and protect the rights of the children. The Government had introduced new laws and had set up institutions.
Mr. Citarella said the State party should reconsider the recommendations already made by the Committee on the Republic of Korea's initial report in order to avoid repetition. He hoped that the incoming Government would take a new approach to the promotion and protection of children, including in the sphere of civil life.
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