2) Questions
- Please provide measures to devise strict requirements to be fulfilled by the intelligence and inve
stigative agencies to request communication confirmation data and to enhance protection of funda
mental rights and provision of remedial measures.
19. Conscientious objection and alternative civilian service
1) Current Status
- The international community including the UN Human Rights Council has continued to recommend t
o the Korean government to introduce an alternative civilian service, but the government opposed intro
duction of an alternative civilian service for reasons of national security, possibility of abuse to avoid
military duties, and loss of military power, imposing criminal punishment on about 20,000 young men
since 1950.
- The NHRCK, since December 2005, recommended for introduction of an alternative civilian service f
or several times. In November 2016, regarding the constitutional appeal on recognition of the right to
conscientious objection, it submitted an opinion to the Constitutional Court that the right to conscientio
us objection is about the essence of freedom of conscious, and imposing criminal punishment on consc
ientious objectors without providing measures to balance the freedom of conscious with the duty of mil
itary is against the Constitution.
- Regarding the constitutional appeal on Article 88 (1) of the Military Service Act(2011Hun-Ba379) on
28 June 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled that Article 5 (1) of the Military Service Act that does n
ot define an alternative civilian service as a type of military service violates the freedom of conscious,
the fundamental right under the Constitution, the ruled the said provision as non-conforming to the Co
nstitution. The Court, however, ruled that Article 88 (1) of the Act on punishment conforms to the Co
investigative agency may misuse the data collected through internet cable interception to id
entify activities of a specific person or to acquire information. In this regard, the court rule
d that Article 5 (2), which is a basis for communication restricting measures, does not confo
rm to the Constitution and should be amended until March 31, 2020, and the said provision
should be applied until then.