National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2019
coexistence and peace where diversity and differences are respected.
The three key strategies to counter hate speech and facilitate coordination among related
departments are 1) to bring hate speech to light for public dialogue and awareness, 2) to lead
a government-wide approach, and 3) to establish and implement self-imposed controls of hate
speech. The Commission developed a list of sub-tasks in support of these strategies.
B. Key Activities
Part 2
Special Committee to Respond to Hatred & Discrimination
to light the issues of hatred and discrimination for public discussions and inform possible response
options. The committee has 25 members who bring the expertise and experience from civil society
groups, religion, academia, and the legal profession. The committee was activated on February 20,
starting with a Declaration to Fight Hatred and Discrimination.
Survey of public perception of hatred and discrimination
The Commission conducted a series of surveys for a diagnostic assessment of how the public
perceives hatred and discrimination. This includes a public perception survey of 1,200 persons in
March, a survey on use of hate speech in April, and a survey of 500 teenagers in May. The results
showed that 64.2% of adult respondents experienced hate speech, the majority of which felt a
sense of intimidation (50.5%) or horror (53.1%), and 87.3% thought the speech was problematic.
However, most of them said they did not react, either neglecting (79.9%) or avoiding (73.4%). In
case of teenagers, 68.3% said they had experienced hate speech, 82.9% said they would never use
hate speech again, but 22.3% thought hate speech wasn’t a problem.
Respondents were concerned that hatred and discrimination would foster crime (81.8%), social
conflicts (78.4%), and deep-rooted discrimination (71.4%), and negatively impact freedom of
speech of social minorities (62.8%). The survey results were in favor of public policy to counter
hate speech, including a restriction of media reporting that publicize hate speech (87.2%), more
education and campaigns to improve public perception (86.9%), and more school education to
promote a respect for human rights (86.5%).
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Key Activities
The Special Committee to Respond to Hatred & Discrimination is an advisory body that brings