community. In fact, Korea was elected as a member (2013~2015) of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the third time since the creation of the Council in 2006 and was elected a member (2013~2014) of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the second time since 1996. Consequently, Korea actively participated in the major discussions on human rights taking place in international circles. Under such circumstances, the Commission had to come up with a response to the expectations of the international human rights community related to, for example, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the UNHRC, monitoring a country report by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD), and hosting the 12th Informal ASEM Seminar on Human Rights. In addition, Korea was appointed as an Asia-Pacific representative to the ICC* Executive Board, the ICC Working Group on Aging, the ICC Working Group on Business and Human Rights as well as to the Organizing Committee of the International Conference of National Human Rights Institutions. * International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights In Korea, the notion of human rights has gained ascendancy, come into the mainstream and become a specialized area unto itself. Such conditions have led to requests to enhance social rights, the spread of human rights ordinances to local government groups, a growing demand for human rights education, and an increase in the number of complaints filed with the Commission, all of which consequently resulted in ever-increasing expectations of the Commission. Also, habitual and various kinds of violence happening in school, at home, in the military and in welfare facilities as well as sexual violence against women have emerged as serious social problems, and many people have raised their voices and declared that the Commission should seek to resolve such human rights issues. The revised National Human Rights Commission Act went into force on March 21, 2012. This revision was a positive change that expanded the work boundary of the Commission and attracted attention from the general public. Public service-related 14 Part I. Introduction