Opening Speech
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,
I am Hyun Byung-Chul, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of
Korea.
I would like to extend my sincere welcome and appreciation to all the participants of
today’s conference, especially to our guests from overseas: Ms. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the UN
Special Rapporteur on Trafficking of Persons, Ms. Amara Pongsapich, the Chairperson of
the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, Liezel Z. Parajas, OIC of the
Women’s Human Rights Center, Jean Enriquez of the Coalition against Trafficking in
Women, Professor Jennifer Burn and Suraina Pasha of Asia Pacific Forum of National
Human Rights Institutions.
My special appreciation goes out to Lawmakers Kim Chun-Jin and Kim Dong-Sung who
took time out of busy schedules to be with us today. Also, I want to thank all the presenters
including Yoo Young-Nim of Durebang and all the panelists including Professor Kim
Hyun-Mi.
Human trafficking, the subject of today’s conference, should not and must not happen in
the world where live in. Due to the criticisms that there a large number of human
trafficking victims in Korea and other countries of the world, however, the NHRCK started
to get more involved and interest in the subject which led to today’s conference.
As many of you already know, human trafficking does not simply refer to an act of
kidnapping and selling a passerby. The ‘Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime’which was adopted in the 2000 UNGA
provides wider definition of human trafficking. According to the definition, there are a
number of instances in Korea which can be defined as human trafficking.
They are migrant women who got their passport confiscated by their employer and are
forced into prostitution at entertainment establishment, migrant workers who have to endure
unfavorable treatment and working condition because of their unstable immigration status,
and marriage migrants who marry Korean men without being given proper and accurate
information on their spouse by international marriage agencies. They fall within the