National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2021 reason that an associated trial is ongoing on the matter of fact of the petition. However, it expressed the above opinion based on conclusion that suspending the construction without any other clear reasons than unilateral civil complaints that were driven by prejudice against Muslims and the Islam religion is not a justifiable reason. Meanwhile, regarding a petition that the district office’s failure to take actions on illegal advertisement such as resident banners containing hate speech against Islam, the Commission concluded that failure to take actions on banners that contain expressions of discrimination and violence against Muslims, such as “Muslims kill people cruelly by beheading,” “devil religion that kills people,” “terrorists,” and “war command post,” constitutes infringement upon the dignity, values, and personal rights of the petitioner and members of the petitioning organization. It thus recommended that the head of the district office remove or take the necessary actions against racially discriminating advertisement, the use of which even during legitimate, reported rallies is prohibited under the Outdoor Advertisement Act. The district office accepted the Commission’s recommendation and submitted a plan to conduct a crackdown on racially discriminating banners related to the mosque construction from October 2021. Meanwhile, in a lawsuit seeking cancellation of the construction suspension order, the court recognized the unlawfulness of the order and ruled in favor of the plaintiff. H. ‌Opinion expressed on proposed partial amendment to the Act on Press Arbitration Regarding the proposed partial amendment to the Act on Press Arbitration and Remedies for Damage Caused by Press Reports, which is currently pending at the National Assembly, the Commission expressed opinion on September 13 to the Speaker of the National Assembly that, while it agrees with the proposal’s intent to increase accountability of the press, careful review is necessary prior to legislation as some of the new provisions may shrink press freedom guaranteed under the Constitution. With fake news and disinformation becoming a serious social problem and while acknowledging that the proposed amendment’s intent is to increase accountability of the press by calling to the press attention the importance of reporting news truthfully, the Commission expressed the view that, because the proposed stricter regulation on media activities has implications for the exercise 58