I. Introduction 1. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) hereby submits this report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (hereinafter “the Committee”) for the Committee’s review of the combined 5th and 6th periodic report of the Government of the Republic of Korea (hereinafter “the Government”) on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The NHRCK, as an independent national human rights institution that monitors implementation of the CRC of the Republic of Korea, prepared this report to provide information and opinions which may be taken into account for the consideration of the periodic report. This report, referring to the guidelines regarding the form and content of periodic report to be submitted by State parties (CRC/C/58/Rev.3), presents the issues concerning the rights of the child of the Republic of Korea under the clusters of the CRC. Ⅱ. Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child A. General Measures of Implementation (Articles 4, 42 and 44(6)) Issue 1. Reservations and non-accession 2. It is a positive development that the Government withdrew its reservation to Article 21(a) of the CRC on August 11, 2017. However, Article 40(2)(b)(v), which concerns the right to appeal, still remains reserved. In addition, the Government has not acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (OPIC) yet, although the OPIC was adopted in 2011. Moreover, the Government acceded to the Convention on civil aspects of international child abduction (the Hague Convention) in May 2013 and submitted a bill to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea for the consent to the ratification of the Hague Convention on October 18th, 2017, but the bill is still pending in the National Assembly. 3. The Government should positively consider withdrawing its reservation of Article 40(2)(b)(v) of the CRC and acceding to the OPIC, while giving full support for the ratification of the Hague Convention. 1