Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considers report of Republic of Korea

11 November 2009

 

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has considered the third periodic report of the Republic of Korea on how that country implements the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

 

Introducing the report, Lee Sung-Joo, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that recent far-reaching economic and social changes were affecting the country. One was the global economic crisis and marginalization. The recent situation clearly illustrated that it was the socially and economically marginalized who were the hardest hit by a global financial crisis. It was at such times that the Government had a key role to play in providing them with adequate assistance. Another change affecting the Republic of Korea was the dramatic increase in migrant workers and international marriages. Korean society was rapidly becoming a multi-cultural society. A third change was a dramatic demographic change due to low fertility and rapid population aging. As of 2009, 10.7 per cent of the total population of the Republic of Korea was aged 65 or over. This figure was expected to double by 2026.

 

Mr. Lee said following the Committee’s last concluding observations, the Government had finally abolished the patriarchal head-of-family (Ho-ju) system in 2005 and taken measures for the promotion of women’s participation in the labour market. It had also taken steps to eliminate violence against women; to strengthen legal measures against sexual offenders; to give civil servants the right to form and join trade unions and to engage in collective bargaining; and to improve the working conditions of non-regular workers.

 

Among questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were, amongst others, the situation of non-regular workers; the status of economic, social and cultural rights in the Republic of Korea and whether the provisions of the Covenant were directly applicable; the lack of case-law with regard to the Covenant; why the staff of the National Human Rights Commission had been cut down by 30 per cent; whether the recommendations made by this Commission were taken into consideration by the Government; the effects of privatization of public goods on the Government’s ability to comply with its obligations under the Covenant; the impact of the budget allocations for the Four Rivers Project; the status of major overseas Daewoo land-leasing contracts; measures taken to tackle the problem of young people’s unemployment; what the criteria were to call a strike legal or illegal; the problem of exploitation and trafficking of workers in the entertainment industry; and the situation of homeless people.

 

In concluding remarks Marchan Romero, Committee Chairperson, thanked the delegation of the Republic of Korea. It was the first time that he had seen such a large delegation attending the Committee. It testified to the Republic of Korea’s great desire to work towards the promotion and protection of the rights under the Covenant. All States parties ratifying this Covenant had to continue their steep climb to achieve these objectives. It was the job of the Committee to highlight and pinpoint weaknesses.

 

Jih-Ah Paik, Deputy Director-General for International Organizations Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in concluding remarks, said that the intense discussions had been highly constructive. She believed that the Committee’s advice and recommendations would serve as a valuable guide and source of inspiration for the Government in years to come. The process had provided them with a unique opportunity to reflect upon what they had achieved and what they had failed to do since the previous consideration.

 

Also in the delegation of the Republic of Korea were representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade; the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Labour; the Ministry for Health Welfare and Family Affairs; the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology; the Ministry of Public Administration and Security; the Ministry of National Defence; the Ministry of Gender Equality; the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs; the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; and the Ministry of Environment.

 

The next meeting of the Committee will be on Friday, 20 November, around noon, when it will issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the country reports which it has considered during the session and conclude the session.

 

Report of Republic of Korea

 

The third periodic report of the Republic of Korea (E/C.12/KOR/3) states that since the submission of the second periodic report in 1999, the Korean Government has made significant efforts to improve the economic, social and cultural rights of the Korean people, including the rights of minorities. The Korean Government has been seeking various measures to close the social divide and improve the economic, social and cultural rights of socially vulnerable groups, including the poor, the elderly, and children. In some fields, however, the Republic of Korea has not yet complied with the requirements laid down in the Covenant. Nevertheless, it is committed to doing its best to improve economic, social and cultural rights to the extent that available resources permit. In May 2006, the Korean Government established the Human Rights Bureau within the Ministry of Justice. The Bureau is responsible for establishing and enforcing national policies on human rights, including the formulation and implementation of the National Action Plan for the
Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, investigating human rights violation cases, improving human rights-related institutions, and providing protection and remedy for victims of crimes. Pursuant to the Paris Principles, the Korean
Government also established the National Human Rights Commission in 2001 as an independent institution in charge of human rights affairs.

 

In the Republic of Korea, if a strike or other form of industrial action is to be considered legitimate, its purpose, procedures and means must be justifiable. The requirements for industrial action are mostly in line with the relevant ILO conventions and are not stricter than required. For example, strikes to promote political goals, which also have little to do with maintaining or improving working conditions (e.g. strikes staged to join the campaign for the withdrawal of United States troops), strikes mounted without a strike ballot among union members, and strikes involving the violent occupation of production facilities are deemed illegal, as their purposes, procedures and means violate labor laws and therefore can be punished on charges of obstruction of business. Strikes conducted legitimately in observance of related laws, including picketing and the peaceful occupation of facilities, not to mention collective refusal to work, are permitted within reasonable boundaries. Even in the event that industrial action by a trade union is considered obstruction of business, the Government and the court does not always apply severe punishment. They treat such matters judicially in a flexible way by considering them on a case-by-case basis. In the case of simple illegal strikes, the strike workers are, in principle, investigated with no detention unless there are any exceptional and special reasons, such as significant impacts on related industries and major direct damage.

 

Introduction of Report

 

LEE SUNG-JOO, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations Office at Geneva, introducing the report, said that the report was the result of a close cooperation and a combined effort among the relevant ministries and agencies and more than 30 representatives from 12 ministries had travelled to Geneva to participate in this process.

 

Turning to the Government’s efforts to promote the rights upheld in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in response to the recent extensive and far-reaching economic and social changes in the Republic of Korea, Mr. Lee said that one of the changes was the global economic crisis and marginalization. The recent situation clearly illustrated that it was the socially and economically marginalized that were the hardest hit by a global financial crisis. It was at such times that the Government had a key role to play in providing these groups with adequate assistance. Government spending in the social and welfare area should not be seen as a cost, but rather as an investment for enhanced social integration. This item now accounted for the biggest budget item, amounting to 26 per cent of all Government spending in the Republic of Korea.

 

The Government had worked to expand essential public healthcare with a view to achieving the universality of the healthcare system, said Mr. Lee. Low income people were provided with various forms of support and assistance. Those who were not covered by the national health insurance could benefit from the Medical Aid Programme, designed to provide medical benefits to recipients of livelihood assistance.

 

The second change affecting the Republic of Korea was the dramatic increase in migrant workers and international marriages. Korean society was rapidly becoming a multi-cultural society, said Mr. Lee. The Government had therefore been pursuing a number of measures aimed at ensuring the smooth integration of foreigners.

 

The third change was a dramatic demographic change due to low fertility and rapid population aging. As of 2009, 10.7 per cent of the total population of the Republic of Korea was aged 65 or over, said Mr. Lee. This figure was expected to double by 2026. In 2008, the Korean Government had introduced the Pension System for Older Persons to alleviate poverty amongst older persons and provide them with greater economic and social stability. The Government had also established a comprehensive plan to develop the female workforce along with measures to promote women’s employment.

 

Mr. Lee said that the Government had also given careful consideration to the Committee’s previous recommendations and had thus established a National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in 2007. This was the first comprehensive roadmap for human rights policies at the national level. The National Human Rights Policy Council, a Vice-Ministerial consultative body, regularly monitored the implementation of the plan. The Government had also established a Human Rights Bureau in the Ministry of Justice, in 2006.

 

Further, following the Committee’s last concluding observations, the Government had finally abolished the patriarchal head-of-family (Ho-ju) system in 2005, said Mr. Lee. The Government had also taken measures for the promotion of women’s participation in the labour market and steps to eliminate violence against women; to strengthen legal measures against sexual offenders; to give civil servants the right to form and join trade unions and to engage in collective bargaining; and to improve the working conditions of non-regular workers.

 

In order to assist the vulnerable groups in society, such as children, persons with disabilities and migrant workers, the Government announced in 2008 a Comprehensive Counter-measures Plan to Protect Women and Children. A system for the protection of children from sexual violence had been established. In terms of equal opportunities for persons with disabilities, the Republic of Korea had ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities last December, said Mr. Lee. On the protection of migrant workers, the Government had introduced an Employment Permit System, which aimed to protect the legal status of migrant workers and prohibit discrimination.

 

The Government strived to be an active agent of change rather than a passive respondent to challenges. In spite of their efforts, there still remained work to be done for the full realization of the rights enshrined in the Covenant, said Mr. Lee. Government efforts alone were not sufficient and the Government recognized the National Human Rights Commission and non-governmental organizations as important partners.

 

Questions by Experts on Articles One to Five of the Covenant

 

Addressing issues linked to articles one to five of the Covenant, Experts welcomed the abolition of the Ho-ju system. On non-regular workers, it seemed that despite the measures taken by the Government, it was still a problem in the Republic of Korea. Could the delegation say if the problem of non-regular workers had decreased, and had the working conditions of non-regular workers been improved?

 

Another Expert noted that some of the issues were recurring topics, which they had already discussed in the initial and second reports. Economic, social and cultural rights were not given the same weight as civil and political in the Republic of Korea and these were considered only programmatic and not legally-binding. In the written responses, the State party said that international treaties counted as national laws and thus their provisions could be applied, but the fact was that they were not. Why was it so?

 

An Expert wondered why the staff of the National Human Rights Commission had been cut down by 30 per cent. Another Expert noted that its budget had also been drastically reduced and that the President of that Commission did not have competence in human rights. Was this the commitment to the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, as the head of the delegation had said in his introductory speech? Further, it appeared that the comments made by the Commission were completely disregarded by the Government.

 

Another Expert wondered if the Covenant’s rights were considered as non-judiciable by the Republic of Korea. If so, the Government would even be denying that there were minimum standards that were applicable to the provisions of the Covenant.

 

Information available to the Committee showed that discrimination still existed in various areas of life in the Republic of Korea, said an Expert, and that children born out of wedlock, children of migrant families, and children with disabilities were amongst the victims. Could the delegation correlate this information? What was the State doing to address these problems?

 

Further, what measures had been taken by the Government to combat the economic crisis? Had these been successful?

 

On the statistical data provided in the report, one Expert noted that it went only up to 2005. It would have been better to have the data also for the following years.

 

Another Expert said that now that certain public goods, such as healthcare, water supply and electricity had been privatized in the Republic of Korea, this had become a cause of concern as the State risked not being able to comply anymore with its obligations under the Covenant. How did the State party anticipate being able to comply with the essential minimum obligation to protect economic, social and cultural rights from the influence of third parties?

 

On the tax reduction policy, how did it affect the Republic of Korea’s future financial security, considering that there had been a decrease in welfare spending, asked an Expert?

 

Regarding development projects, an Expert noted that the Four Rivers Project was being criticized because such a big budget had been allocated to it, and because the economic return derived from it would be too little. Critics said that the money used for it could have been better used. Could the delegation elaborate on this?

 

An Expert noted that there had also been downsizing at the Ministry of Gender Equality and that this had had a weakening effect on the gender equality plans. Could the delegation elaborate on this?

 

Another Expert wondered whether there was a lack of clarity over the position of the Covenant vis-à-vis the national legislation adopted by the Parliament. Further, was the Republic of Korea planning to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Covenant?

 

The lack of case-law in the Republic of Korea with regard to the Covenant showed that the people were not aware of the Covenant or how it could be applied. This was one of the weak factors, said an Expert. Could the Government increase public awareness among the judiciary, the non-governmental organizations and the Korean people themselves? Being the twelfth largest economy in the world put a burden on the country to demonstrate the Covenant’s relevance to the rest of the world.

 

The Korean industry and products stemming from Samsung, Kia and Hyundai showed that there was a culture of perfection in the Republic of Korea. It would be nice to have the same perfection in human rights, said one Expert.

 

An Expert mentioned the Daewoo land-leasing projects in Madagascar and said that during its consideration of the report of Madagascar this week, the Committee was told by the Malagasy delegation that the contract had not come to fruition.

 

This contract would have covered some 1.3 million hectares, which amounted to more than half the agricultural land of Madagascar. The Expert noted that there were similar types of projects in the Philippines. What was the current situation in this regard?

 

Some of these contracts clearly violated the right to food and the right to work of the peasants of the country where the land was leased, but also those of farmers in the in leasing country, said the Expert. Korean women peasants associations had indicated that there was no food insecurity in the Republic of Korea, but the problem was that the land was given to industrial use. Could the delegation elaborate on this issue?

 

Response by Delegation

 

In their response, members of the delegation said that while they did not know if they were perfectionists or not, they were doing their best to meet the provisions of the Covenant, to the extent that their abilities allowed them to do.

 

Regarding the reduction in the National Human Rights Commission’s staff, the delegation indicated that it was not of 30 per cent but of 21 per cent. This reorganization of the National Human Rights Commission was part of the measures to reduce the size of the Government as a whole. There had however been no intentions to reduce the functions or the role of the National Human Rights Commission.

 

Concerning the fact that the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission was appointed by the President of the Republic and how the Commission’s independence could be guaranteed in light of this fact, the delegation said that this practice was also the case in several other countries and that this did not affect the Commission’s independence.

 

Concerning accreditation of the National Human Rights Commission by the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions, the delegation said that they believed that the Coordinating Committee would reach this decision and that the independence of the Commission was fully guaranteed and in compliance with the Paris Principles.

 

On the question of whether the Government had been ignoring the recommendations of the National Human Rights Commission, the delegation said that the Government respected the opinion of the Commission and that it worked very hard to reflect it in its State policies. However some of the Commission’s opinions had conflicted with Supreme Court decisions and some had not reached public consensus level yet.

 

Concerning discrimination, the delegation said that a taskforce had been tasked with preparing a bill on discrimination to look at issues related to the existing anti-discrimination bill, how it could be improved and whether the Government should pass an anti-discrimination Act.

 

On the protection against racial discrimination, the Republic of Korea had no specific act dedicated to it, indicated the delegation. Such an act was being considered by the Korean Racial Discrimination Act Taskforce.

 

On the Covenant and why it was not being invoked in general as a norm of jurisdiction, the delegation said that the reason why courts did not invoke the Covenant was because most of the economic, social and cultural rights were already guaranteed by the Korean Constitution and domestic law.

 

On public awareness of the rights contained in the Covenant, the delegation said that the Republic of Korea, in its National Plan of Action on Human Rights, had a separate section on human rights education, which included awareness-raising. Several ministries communicated the rights under the Covenant through their websites. The Covenant was also part of the curricula of public officials’ training.

 

The delegation said that provisions prohibited gender discrimination in the workplace and that workplaces were continuously monitored by the Government. To increase the awareness of corporations, the Government had been providing guidelines on how to identify violations. A female employee who experienced discrimination could also visit private counselling centres.

 

Concerning the Four River Project, the delegation said that it had not caused a reduction in the country’s welfare budget. On the contrary, the welfare budget had increased all throughout the last five years. The Four River Project was a project to prevent disasters such as floods and droughts, which had become more and more severe due to climate change. This was a necessary project. The residences that had been experiencing most damages from the floods and droughts were the houses of farmers and of poor communities in the area. The project thus improved the welfare standard of those living in the area.

 

The delegation said that economic, social and cultural rights were taken into consideration in the agreements covering Free Trade Areas. The agreements prevented the partners from lowering employment or environmental standards.

 

Questions by Experts on Articles Six to Nine

 

Addressing issues in relation to articles six to nine of the Covenant, an Expert noted that the Government had adopted various measures to tackle the problem of young people’s unemployment but that the problem still remained. Could the delegation elaborate? Also, what was the total number of unemployed persons currently in the Republic of Korea; this number had not been mentioned in the report.

 

How was the minimum wage computed? On working hours, an Expert noted that the Republic of Korea had the highest number of working hours in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) area, had the highest record of industrial accidents in the OECD area and also had a high rate of deaths at the workplace. There were only 350 labour inspectorates in the country. The labour inspectors were apparently more focused on undocumented migrant workers rather that inspecting corporations for safety and occupational hazards.

 

Turning to strikes and demonstrations, one Expert noted that in downtown Seoul, demonstration were impossible, due to an article of the penal code regarding obstruction of business. Why were trade unions rallies and demonstrations being banned? What exactly did “obstruction of business” mean?

 

One Expert mentioned that she had once witnessed a peaceful demonstration in Seoul and that the military and police personnel that had been deployed around the demonstration had seemed to be completely disproportionate.

 

About the National Plan of Action for Human Rights, how was it being implemented from an institutional point of view? An Expert also wondered why gender equality issues had been moved to the Ministry for Health Welfare and Family Affairs. Further, how was the National Plan of Action addressing youth unemployment?

 

Turning to the situation of migrant workers in the Republic of Korea, an Expert noted that there were several problems. While the Government had taken a number of steps, there were still problems linked to restriction of labour mobility; safety and health; and services offered to foreign workers.

 

Amnesty International had reported about the problem of exploitation and trafficking of workers in the Republic of Korea’s entertainment industry, said an Expert. The country had signed but not yet ratified the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. Was the country planning any steps in this direction?

 

Also, the Republic of Korea seemed to have a very narrow definition of trafficking, which only included trafficking for prostitution. However the entertainment industry also witnessed trafficking. Women from the Philippines were often recruited to work in bars and nightclubs and at the end of the day were very often forced to offer their sex services to the clients by their employers. If they failed to do so, the employer threatened to cancel their work permit and send them back to their country. These workers did not fall within the definition of trafficking, under the current legislation.

 

Response by Delegation

 

Answering these questions and others, the delegation said that the reason why the college professor union could not enjoy the same labour rights as other workers was linked to the fact that public servants and teachers were subject to a separate law than other workers when it came to the formation of trade unions.

 

On migrant workers, the delegation said that safety at work brochures were distributed to them, as well as other documents in their own native language and interpretation services were provided to them in cases where it was needed. In case of an accident, migrant workers were provided with accidental care benefits.

 

Concerning the difference in wages between native workers and migrant workers, the delegation said that both groups received the same wages.

 

About the current unemployment rate, the delegation said that it had been of 3.2 per cent in 2008 and that it had slightly increased to 3.7 per cent in 2009.

 

Concerning youth unemployment, this had become an issue for the Republic of Korea because of the structural weakness of the economy to absorb young workers. There was a mismatch between what young workers were looking for and what the industry was offering. The Government had taken several measures to address these issues.

 

On the rate of accidents in the workplace, the delegation said that it had recently started lowering. This was not only linked to the work of the labour inspectors, but also thanks to the Korea Industrial Safety Corporation, a public agency charged with the promotion of safety at the workplace. The Republic of Korea would continue to work towards improving the rate of accidents.

 

On whether the Republic of Korea had plans to ratify International Labour Organization Conventions 87 and 98 on the right to associate and organize unions, the delegation said that these rights were already guaranteed by Korean law. There were however some difference of opinions between the conventions and Korean law which kept the Republic of Korea from ratifying the conventions at this stage. But the Government continued to discuss this issue with the International Labour Organization.

 

On unemployment benefits, the delegation said that these were introduced for the first time in 2005. Since then they had been extending the coverage days to ensure the unemployment benefit system could play a more important role as a safety net. The Government would cautiously look at ways of extending the unemployment benefits system. A tripartite taskforce was looking at this issue.

 

Concerning the regulation of strikes and trade union actions, the delegation said that under the Republic of Korea Criminal Code, a strike that disrupted business was punishable. The Government guaranteed legal strikes. The legality of strikes was not arbitrarily decided; this was done by the Supreme Court, on the basis of whether a strike complied with the existing laws or not. If a strike was linked with maintaining or improving working conditions, it was conceived as legal.

 

However, strikes which had to do with the removal of US troops from the Republic of Korea’s soil; bans on import of US beefs; or the occupation of facilities by force were not considered as legal means.

 

On whether excessive police force was used against strikes, the delegation said that the Government fully protected legal strikes and actions, but public force was used for actions that were not legal or were politically motivated.

 

On the fight against trafficking, the delegation said that the Republic of Korea criminal punishment code did not limit itself to trafficking for sex purposes, but also for other grounds, including abduction for profit, or to traffic a person out of the country.

 

Concerning the protection of women who had become victims of sex trade trafficking, the delegation indicated that there was a support facility where women could seek shelter, legal advice and medical services.

 

The delegation also highlighted the fact that the Republic of Korea faced low fertility and ageing of society. To tackle these challenges and in order to take very comprehensive measures, it had been necessary to combine all related ministerial activities, such as childcare, birth-care, elderly care and the social systems. Through this reorganization of the Government, which was made last year, the Government had decided to move gender equality to the Ministry of Welfare and Family Affairs.

 

Follow-up Questions

 

In follow-up questions, one Expert wondered what happened to the status of a strike in the timeframe when the Supreme Court was looking at the legality of a strike.

 

On the Four River Project, an Expert said that she had not said that the budget for the project had been taken from the State party’s welfare budget. Rather what she had wanted to highlight was the fact that there had been no prior consultations held with the groups affected by the project. Also, the money could have been better spent on social welfare projects than on a project which had employed less people than the amount of people who would have theoretically benefited from such projects.

 

Another Expert wondered whether it could be that the definition of a legal strike was strongly limited in the State party. How many legal and illegal strikes had there been over the last year?

 

Questions by Experts on Articles Ten to Twelve

 

Turning to issues linked to articles ten to twelve of the Covenant, an Expert noted that low income groups were becoming larger and middle income groups were dwindling toward the poverty line in the Republic of Korea. Could the delegation elaborate?

 

On adequate housing, an Expert noted that in its last concluding observations, the Committee had recommended that the State party should take immediate measures to assist those who were homeless. Not much seemed to have changed. Could the delegation elaborate on this issue? According to the State’s very narrow definition of homeless people, there were currently 12,000 homeless people in the Republic of Korea. When one looked at the definition that was given by the Presidential Commission on Social Exclusion of 2005, this number came up to 170,000. Had the State party tried to establish the causes for homelessness?

 

On forced evictions, an Expert mentioned an event that had taken place in the Republic of Korea where 40 persons had been evicted by force. 1,400 riot police officers plus members of private security forces were sent in and violence was used. This had resulted in the death of five protesters and one policeman. This clearly showed that excessive force was used in forced evictions. Further, no alternative settlement programme had been offered in this case and the bodies of the victims had not yet been buried as their families were asking for an official apology and compensation.

 

The Republic of Korea must establish a law on forced eviction, said the Expert. This could be simply done by adopting the guidelines included in the Committee’s General Comment on forced evictions. Was the State Party prepared to do this?

 

Other issues that were raised included the long waiting times for treatments in hospitals and accessibility to HIV/AIDS pharmaceutical products. Another issue was overburdening children with school work. Children aged 12 years often studied every day until 11 p.m. This situation often resulted in mental health problems. What was the State party doing to address this?

 

Response by Delegation

 

Concerning the number of illegal strikes, the delegation said that in 2008 there had been 108 strikes, out of which 17 had been illegal, or 15 per cent. As of the end of October 2009, there had been 101 strikes, out of which eight had been illegal, or eight per cent.

 

Concerning sickness benefits in the Republic of Korea, the delegation said that when a worker asked for a sick-day for a non-industrial related sickness, the law did not specify whether the employer had to pay for sickness benefits or not. There was no obligation for that and it was up to the employer to decide whether to pay or not.

 

Concerning people living under the poverty-line, the delegation said that there was a need to provide social benefits for those persons who did not have a fixed address, or social security number.

 

On AIDS/HIV prevention, the delegations said that the Government had worked towards raising awareness of the general population with regards to AIDS. The Minister of Health had also appointed an Ambassador for AIDS awareness.

 

On the status of farmers, the delegation said that some had given up farming given the decrease in rice prices. The difficulties related to farming were difficulties that all countries were facing. The Government had developed a “Vision 2020” roadmap to prepare a better future for Korean farmers. The Republic of Korea currently had a very low level of self sufficiency in the overall food crops, but over 100 per cent self-sufficiency in rice. The Government needed to preserve an adequate amount in farming land, while on the demand side they needed to diversify the food available.

 

Concerning the huge amount of stress that Korean teenagers were under, the delegation said that the Government had shown growing interest in the mental health of young children. It had developed various diagnostic tools. From 2008 they had been implementing suicide prevention programmes for all children from primary to secondary school. The Government had also increased the amount of sports activities carried out around the school and made sports clubs around schools more active.

 

Concerning the Four River project and the comment by an Expert that it had not gone through consensus, the delegation said that this was not true and that they had gone through consensus seeking. Even today they still had a consultative body for important matters.

 

On the suggestion that it would have been better to transfer the budget of the Four River Project to welfare projects, the delegation repeated that this project should be understood as also promoting the welfare of people living in the area.

 

On the issue of improving the right of housing for the poor, the delegation said that the Government was deploying and supplying 1 million low-cost housing units to poor communities. The Government was also conducting programmes to provide public housing at below-market rate.

 

Turning to what one Expert had said that 1.3 million houses would be destroyed in a ten-year period and only 6,000 units would be built, the delegation clarified that this was not correct. According to Government analysis, there would be an increase by 150 per cent through Governmental development processes.

 

Turning back to the legality of strikes, the delegation said that only the politically motivated strikes were banned. However, politically motivated demonstrations and assemblies were guaranteed by the Constitution.

 

In order for a labour dispute to become legal, the delegation indicated that action had to be conducted by an entity eligible for collective bargaining; the purpose of the action should be to create a possibility where the employees and the employer could agree for a change in the conditions; strikes could only start when the employers had refused a specific demand that had been presented by the workers’ representation; the union should also go though a vote when deciding to strike; and strikes should not use violence. If there were several disputes behind one strike, the courts would look at the main or only the genuine objectives of such a strike to decide on its legality.

 

Concerning the legality of strikes, it was initially the prosecutor’s office and the police which looked at the legality of the strike, but the courts had the final power of determining the legality.

 

Turning to the incident mentioned by one of the Experts where forced evictions had happened, the delegation said that the Republic of Korea had expressed at several occasions its deepest condolences for the deaths that had occurred in the incident. However, the incident had been irrelevant to the right to housing. The operation had been conducted to eliminate a threat to public safety because the building was under illegal occupation.

 

On the issue of trafficking, the delegation said that the Republic of Korea was preparing laws to prepare the implementation of the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

 

About the issue of traces of cancerous material that had been found in bottled water and the fact that the Government had kept the name of the affected companies secret, the delegation said that there had been no legal requirement about this material, bromine, at that time. These companies had voluntarily recalled all their bottles. Thus, the names of the companies had not been disclosed. Bottled water in the Republic of Korea now respected World Health Organization standards.

 

Questions by Experts on Articles Thirteen to Fifteen

 

Turning to the issues linked to the last part of the Covenant, an Expert noted that the Korean National University of Arts had been asked by the Government to concentrate only on practical teaching and its theoretical courses had been reduced. Did the State party feel that it could dictate to academic institutions, at the tertiary level, what they should teach and to whom they should teach? This touched academic freedom.

 

Another Expert mentioned the arrests of journalists who had written critical reports about Government policies and wondered whether this did not amount to censorship of some kind?

 

Also, did foreign students study in the Republic of Korea? Were there a significant number of foreign students coming to the Republic of Korea as students, in view of the difficulty to learn the language and the fact that it was not spoken in other countries?

 

Another Expert mentioned a pilot project of cultural vouchers that was conducted by the Republic of Korea. These vouchers allowed practical access to cultural life to the poor population, especially low income groups. This was a very interesting project. How did this pilot project work, was it still in existence and what kind of cultural activities did it cover?

 

Response by Delegation

 

Answering these questions and others, the delegation said the Government was providing help to teenage mothers, in order to help them cope with the stigma effect. Starting in 2009, they had established centres for helping teenage single mothers in six regions.

 

Concerning the audit of the Korean National University of Arts, the delegation said that that audit had been conducted under a regular audit plan. Such audits looked at accountings, hiring processes and other school administrative affairs, as well as whether the relevant State laws were being respected. These audits did not infringe on the autonomy of the schools. As this university was a public institution, it had to follow certain rules, as it was making use of public funds.

 

Concerning the cultural vouchers projects, the delegation said that the Government provided 15,000 cultural vouchers to poor people. There were also vouchers for sports related activities and events.

 

Concerning the question on the media and freedom of expression, the delegation said that this question rather fell closer to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Freedom of expression had obligations and responsibilities and should be respected without infringing on other rights. The Government of the Republic of Korea fully provided for freedom of expression. The spreading of false information was however punished by law.

 

Regarding the specific case mentioned by Experts, on an NBC programme on the United States beef deal, the delegation indicated that the first court judgment was still pending.

 

Concerning the private education system, the delegation said that the Government’s policy line was to improve the competitiveness of public education and to improve public education itself.

 

Concluding Remarks

 

MARCHAN ROMERO, Committee Chairperson, in concluding remarks, thanked the delegation of the Republic of Korea. It was the first time that he had seen such a large delegation attending the Committee. It testified to the Republic of Korea’s great desire to work towards the promotion and protection of the rights under the Covenant. All States parties ratifying this Covenant had to continue their steep climb to achieve these objectives. It was the job of the Committee to highlight and pinpoint weaknesses. He hoped that the delegation would give ample consideration to the Committee’s recommendations.

 

JI-AH PAIK, Deputy Director-General for International Organizations Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in concluding remarks, said that the intense discussions had been highly constructive. She believed that the Committee’s advice and recommendations would serve as a valuable guide and source of inspiration for the Government in years to come. The process had provided them with a unique opportunity to reflect upon what they had achieved and what they had failed to do since the previous consideration. The Republic of Korea appreciated the advice and recommendations offered by the Committee and she assured the Committee that they would do their best to reflect them in their efforts to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by all people living in the Republic of Korea.

 

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For use of the information media; not an official record