National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2019 [Table 2-2-11] Civil Complaints and Inquiries Processed in the Last Five Years by Channel (Unit : cases, %) Classification Year Total Cumulative sum 233,933 55,472 2019 30,149 2018 Postal mail / Fax Presidential Secretariat Internet e-People Others 47.2 701 0.3 66,392 28.4 1,001 0.4 4,749 15.8 8,545 28.3 1 0.0 16,663 55.3 191 0.6 29,953 4,785 16.0 9,900 33.1 18 0.1 15,054 50.3 196 0.7 2017 25,640 5,399 21.1 7,612 29.7 24 0.1 12,486 48.7 119 0.5 2016 19,416 5,035 25.9 7,935 40.9 44 0.2 6,286 32.4 116 0.6 2015 14,677 4,748 32.3 7,237 49.3 30 0.2 2,552 17.4 110 0.7 Part 2 23.7 110,367 Key Activities * The cumulative sum is the total from November 25, 2001 (the date of the establishment of the Commission), to December 31, 2019. Section 5. Preliminary Investigations and Mediation In February 2018, the Task Force to Improve Petition Filing and Processing Procedures highlighted some key challenges in getting petitions properly processed. These include investigators overloaded with cases, key petitions not getting proper attention and left unattended for too long because investigators are largely dedicated to handling withdrawn petitions, and a need for prompt handling of petitions as they are filed (through dismissal, mediation, settlement, etc.). Addressing these challenges would help the Commission be more involved in mediation. Against this backdrop, the Commission revisited its organization manning document on July 24, 2018 to reorganize the Human Rights Counseling Center as the Human Rights Counseling and Mediation Center, and establish a team dedicated to preliminary investigation and mediation of petitions. 1. Preliminary Investigations Since August 2018, the Preliminary Investigation and Mediation Team was assigned 18.1% (or 2,345) of all 12,930 petitions filed until December 2019 and processed 17.4% (or 2,313) of all 13,285 petitions closed during the same period. The team took on average 8.8 days to dismiss a 115