Introduction Chapter 2 Domestic and International Environment In 2019, discrimination and hate speech (against social minority groups), poverty, and social polarization continued to be key human rights issues faced by the society. Conflicts caused by discrimination and hate incidents spread across online platforms, politics, education, and the broadcast media, while there were continuous organized hatred and discrimination against sexual minorities and other minority groups. Cases like the family of four found dead in Seongbuk-gu district of Seoul and the death of a destitute North Korean defector and her child highlight the gap that exists in the social safety net. Polarization deepened in terms of education, income, housing, medical service, healthcare, among others. Under these conditions, the Commission focused its efforts on preventing and addressing hate and discrimination by launching Hate Speech Project Team. It also worked to mitigate polarization issues through improvements in the social safety for youths, seniors, people living in non-dwelling facilities, and other groups that are exposed to poverty, and reviewed ways to improve the three fundamental labor rights to promote the rights of vulnerable labor groups. In partnership with local governments, human rights organizations and civil society organizations in the region, the Commission worked to bolster the human rights protection system across the nation. The opening of a regional human rights office in Jeju helped facilitate prompt remedies and build partnership with the local communities. Also, in response to incidents of violence and sexual violence in the field of sports, which triggered a social outrage in early 2019, the Commission organized a special investigation team to analyze and resolve structural problems that lead to human rights violations in the sporting world. Meanwhile, the Commission saw an urgent need to have the NHRCK Act amended in order to strengthen its independence. To this end, it organized and managed an advisory committee, and met with human rights organizations and civil society organizations to hear their views. 08