29. Amid discussion over the Constitutional Amendment, the government has
recently submitted the 10th proposal for the constitutional revision to the
National Assembly in March 2018. The government's proposal expands the
scope of inalienable basic rights, not only to Korean citizens but to all
humankind, however, the rights that should only be entitled to Korean citizens
will remain limited to Korean citizens.
30. Also, under the notion that the equal rights need to be strengthened in order to
realize social integration and justice, the proposal states that the use of terms
such as "race" and "language" should be prohibited in the provisions of equal
rights.
31. Although not much progress has been made due to conflicting interests over the
10th proposal for the constitutional revision, the entitlement of basic rights of
foreigners should be expressly stipulated in the Constitution so that it will
guarantee the equal rights of Korean citizens to foreigners before the law.
Issue 7. Immigration Detention, Liberty and Security of Person
32. The term "detention" under the Immigration Act means an immigration control
official's enforcement activities taking into custody or impounding a person
having reasonable grounds to be suspected of falling under persons subject to
deportation or at flight risk (article 51, Immigration Detention) and detaining
a person subject to a deportation order in any detention facility as the person
cannot be repatriated immediately for some reason (article 63, Detention of
Persons Subject to Deportation).
33. The general comment no. 5 of the UN Human Rights Committee points out that
detention in the course of transporting a migrant involuntarily or deportation
infringes upon the article 9 of International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, "liberty and security of a person," thus a defense mechanism against
human rights violation is needed as such detention is similar to the
confinement of criminals during the criminal procedure.
34. Although the procedure for filing administrative objections to deportation order
8