Status The Committee recommended that “the State party should 7. incorporate into the Criminal Act a definition of torture that includes the mental and psychological aspects of torture” in its concluding observations on the combined third to fifth periodic reports of the Republic of Korea in 2017. In addition, the U.N. Human Rights Committee (“UNHRC”) 8. concerned that “the State party’s criminal legislation does not adequately ensure that acts covered by the internationally-accepted definition of torture are fully criminalized, especially mental torture” in its concluding observations on the forth periodic report of the Republic of Korea. 9. In response, the Korean government made its position that the article 1251 of Criminal Act stipulates penalizing “acts of violence or cruelty”, and acts of cruelty includes mental torture. It added that amendment of Criminal Act is not necessary to incorporate definition of torture. 10. The Supreme Court ruled that cruel act in Article 273 of Criminal Act involves not only physical pain but also mental discrimination to abandonment (Supreme Court Decision 2000Do233 Decided April 25, 2000), and the acts of cruelty (ibid., art. 125) is broader than cruelty (ibid., art. 273) and is equivalent to cruel act (ibid., art. 277)2 under general interpretation of 1 A person who, in performing or assisting in activities concerning judgment, prosecution, police or other functions involving the restraint of the human body, commits an act of violence or cruelty against a criminal suspect or against another person while in the performance of his/her duties, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than five years and suspension of qualifications for not more than ten years. 2 A person who illegally arrests or confines another, thereby treating that person cruelly, shall 6