Foreword The Commission will faithfully carry out its mission To foster a society where people’s dignity is honored And where every person is respected equally The Commission, established on 25 November 2001 to safeguard people’s dignity and value by protecting the basic human rights of all, and to establish a basic democratic order, celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2016. Over the years, the Commission has endlessly worked to promote and protect human rights across society. The year 2016 was, however, marked by a number of human rights issues including the death of an in-house subcontracted worker, atrocities in a housing facility for the persons with disabilities, and a person with mental disabilities forced into slavery at a cattle shed, and the death of, a farmer activist, Baek Nam-gi. These incidents are indication that the Commission still has a long and rough road ahead. Meanwhile, the maturity and restraint demonstrated by those taking part in the peaceful candlelight vigils showed that the way ahead for human rights is bright in Korea. Some positive decisions also showed that the overall human rights situation is taking a major step forward, including the ruling by the Constitutional Court that the involuntary hospitalization of the persons with mental disabilities, which excessively limits their personal freedom, is incompatible with the Constitution. In 2016, the Commission was accredited with “A” status by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). The Commission became the chair institution of the GANHRI Working Group on Ageing. In that role, the Commission actively facilitated discussions on the human rights of the elderly within the United Nations. As a result, the Commission gained approval to open the ASEM Global Ageing Center at the 11th ASEM Summit held in August 2016. The Commission made 71 policy recommendations, which is two times more than in the previous year. These policy efforts included the establishment of the 3rd National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (2017-2021), which is the national policy blueprint, as well as the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights; policy recommendation for the prevention of child abuse and protection of child human rights; policy recommendations to promote the human rights of women public health workers and improve