Written Submission for the 42nd UPR Session
National Human Rights Commission of the Republic of Korea (NHRCK)
I. The Implementation of Previous UPR Recommendations
1. The Government announced in February 2018 that it will accept 121 and note 97 out of 218
recommendations from the 3rd UPR cycle. However, progress has not been made in implementing
key recommendations. In particular, four equality legislation bills are still pending in the National
Assembly although a large number of previous UPR recommendations were put forward on
legislating comprehensive anti-discrimination law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual
orientation, gender identity and other grounds.
2. The previous UPR recommendations also emphasized the abolition of death penalty and the
accession to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR). However, the Government maintains its previous stance that abolishing capital
punishment would require the consideration of many factors including public opinion and
criminal justice. Nevertheless, the Government took a step forward with casting a vote in favor of
a moratorium on the use of death penalty at the 75th UN General Assembly in November 2020,
recognizing Korea’s de facto abolitionist status and a steady increase in the number of countries
supporting the moratorium on the death penalty.
3. During the 3rd UPR cycle, multiple recommendations were made for the Republic of Korea to
sign international human rights treaties, and there has been some progress. The Government
proposed to sign the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (CRPD) to the National Assembly in December 2021. The Ministry of Government
Legislation is currently reviewing the draft proposal of August 2021 to sign the International
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. In April 2021, the
Government deposited the instrument of ratification to International Labor Organization (ILO)
for three ILO conventions – No. 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to
Organize Convention, No. 98 Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, and No.
29 Forced Labor Convention. These conventions came into effect in Korea in April 2022. The
Government also notified the UN in December 2021 that it will withdraw the reservation to
Article 25 (e) of the CRPD related to the access to health and life insurance by persons with
disabilities. The Government is also considering the withdrawal of the reservation to Article 22 of
the ICCPR on the freedom of association and assembly.
4. Some developments have been made in laws and policies in response to the UPR
recommendations to improve the protection of civil and political rights and the rights of socially
vulnerable groups. Alternative service for conscientious objectors has been introduced since
January 2020, based on the enactment of the Act on the Assignment and Performance of
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