National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2020
of remedied cases was 9.9%, which is a 1.9%p increase from the 8.0% in 2019.
In 2020, the Commission continued to make several meaningful recommendations to remedy
violations of human rights. These include recommendation to correct departure ban requests
made without justifiable reasons, recommendation to establish safety regulations during escort
of suspects, recommendation to correct court sheriffs’ practice of trespassing into debtors’
residence without legal basis to remind debtors of execution of judgments, recommendation
to cancel a military decision to discharge an enlisted soldier who had undergone a sex
reassignment surgery while on active duty and to revise the relevant rules and regulations,
recommendation to stop indiscriminate restrictions placed on entries of outside books into
correctional facilities, recommendation not to exclude foreigners from getting emergency relief
funds, recommendation to take disciplinary actions against those involved in bullying and
abusing power in a public organization; and recommendation to correct teachers’ practice of
forcing students to write letters of apology.
Investigations and remedies of discrimination4)
In 2020, the number of petitions filed in relation to discrimination was 2,385, which is 336
(12.3%) less compared to the previous year. The fall is likely attributable to reduced outside
activities by persons with disabilities under the extended COVID-19 situation, and the number of
sexual harassment cases returning to normal levels after temporarily spiking in 2018 due to Me
Too campaigns.
Despite a fall in the number of discrimination-related petitions filed in 2020, the number of
petitions processed was 2,879, which is 427 (17.4%) more compared to the previous year. This
is likely due to less time required to process cases as there were less petitions filed, and prompt
processing of merged cases in relation to discrimination against persons with disabilities. The
number of remedied cases was 976, which is 464 (90.6%) more compared to the previous year.
The rate of remedied cases was 33.9%, which is a 13.0%p increase from the 20.9% in 2019.
In 2020, the Commission continued to make a series of meaningful recommendations in
response to discriminatory acts and sexual harassment, as part of efforts to establish human rights
4) For more details, see Part 2 on Key NHRCK Activities (p. 117).
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