Research project Human Rights and Democratic Consolidation in South Korea
The study investigates whether South Korea has respected human rights since the revision of the Constitution in 1987 that introduced direct presidential elections and how respect has changed throughout time.
The basis of evaluation are applicable articles in the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights and the 1987 South Korean Constitution and the mandate of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) founded in 2001. Relevant definitions of democratic consolidation are another basis. The study is to a large extent based on materials in Korean. The interaction between political developments and respect for human rights is illuminated during seven presidents’ terms in office based on concrete examples.
The significance of the National Security Law (NSL), the Constitutional Court, the NHRC and South Korea’s signing of international UN Conventions of human rights is analyzed. How particularly the NSL, that is generally regarded as the main obstacle to respect human rights, has affected politics since 1987 is given great attention. To give a more multi-faceted view of human rights also the degree of freedom of speech, assembly and association as well as the situation for LGBT persons, migrant workers and North Korean defectors is included. The study will by covering a long period of time and linking respect for human rights with political developments widen knowledge about how democracy has worked in South Korea since 1987.
Project description
Whether South Korea respects human rights since the revision of the Constitution in 1987, when direct presidential elections were introduced and the country came to be regarded as a democracy, is an important issue to analyze: How has democracy worked? To my knowledge, no comprehensive study has been made about this issue during the seven presidents ruling since 1987 (Moon Jae-in’s term in office ends in May 2022). Civil and political rights such as freedom of speech, assembly and association are prerequisites for a working democracy. Economic and social rights, above all the right to life, must be secured to enable people to participate in politics. Participation is also dependent upon the right to education and access to information.
South Korea had since the country was established in 1948 formally been called a democracy, but the presidents had several times revised the Constitution to strengthen their own power. They also suppressed civil and political rights. The standard argument was that tense relations with North Korea made it impossible to introduce democracy. Both national and international critics criticized the NSL established in 1948 to be non-democratic by limiting freedom of speech. The law forms a continuity with the authoritarian era. Anyhow, the democracy institute Freedom House (2019) regards South Korea as a free country. The contradictory characteristics of the political system need to be scrutinized to present a fair view of it.
The purpose is to investigate:
- How well has South Korea respected human rights since 1987?
- Which are the main deficiencies in respect for human rights?
- How has this issue changed throughout the years?
- How can human rights violations and, if there are, changes throughout the years be explained?
- What are the consequences of respect for human rights on democratic consolidation?
The basis to answer these issues are:
- The 1948 UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights
- The 1987 South Korean Constitution
- The mandate of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) established in 2001
Articles in the UN Declaration that will be investigated are: prohibition against slavery and torture, equality before the law and freedom of speech, assembly and association. These articles are possible to empirically investigate. The 1987 Constitution mainly contains articles that concur with the UN Declaration such as freedom of speech, assembly and association and prohibition against slavery and torture that will be investigated. However, there are also articles on conditions for the formation of political parties that are absent in the UN Declaration and contradicts other articles of the Declaration.
The task of the NHRC is to promote human dignity and guarantee the democratic order by protecting and enhancing human rights. Another important institution, that studies have been made of, is the Constitution Court established in 1988 to protect the Constitution.