including undocumented migrant workers, families of international marriages and
refugees to conduct in-depth interviews. Additionally, it provided human rights education
for those from multicultural families and those who work in the fields related to support
services for multicultural families.
Addressing Discrimination against Socially Vulnerable Groups
To deal with the various discrimination issues in Korean society, the Commission
broadly set its strategic objective as "addressing discrimination against socially vulnerable
groups" and laid down specific and concrete objectives to abolish discriminatory practices
in employment and discrimination against persons with disabilities, to protect the rights of
persons with mental disabilities, and to advance the rights of women.
The Commission monitored media reports and trends on discrimination issues and
conducted preliminary investigation or suo moto investigation into serious discrimination
cases. Moreover, concerning a constitutional petition case on age discrimination in
recruitment of police and fire officers, the Commission submitted its opinion to the
Constitutional Court.
The Commission also set up groups to monitor the implementation of the Disability
Discrimination Act for the rights to vote in both national and local elections, accessibility
in public agencies and organizations, and discriminatory clauses against persons with
disabilities in regional laws and regulations. In collaboration with regional human rights
offices, the Commission also operated human rights education programs for workers in
mental health fields, supplementary education programs for human rights instructors, and
a human rights sensitivity improvement course for welfare facilities for the disabled.
The Commission also carried out activities to advance the rights of women in diverse
fields, ranging from monitoring expressions of sexual discrimination to publishing and
distributing booklets featuring case studies of sexual harrassment; organizing open
discussion sessions, expert and policymaker forums and making policy recommendations;
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Part I. Introduction