The Report on Human Rights Situation in the Republic of Korea
over-crowding of detention facilities and the procedures to protect the
undocumented aliens are some of the topics. However, the right to life and
personal liberty are becoming a new form of problem in Korean society today.
The suicide rate per 100,000 is the highest among the OECD member countries
in 2020,6) and the cases of child abuse or ‘violence in close relationships’ became
social issues. Above all, people demanded a government policy on the right to be
safe from infectious diseases and to protect the right to life, under the COVID-19
pandemic, and these measures to prevent the disease resulted in limiting other
rights.
In light of these diverse problems, it is important to discuss whether the
government is properly implementing its role in protecting the people’s lives and
liberty from other threats, in addition to the issues of the government impeding on
the people’s lives and liberty. This seems to have become a trend, not just due to
the special circumstances of 2021.
Many topics covered by this report are related to the right to life and personal
liberty. However, other topics will be dealt with in other more relevant areas, and
the section on ‘right to life and personal liberty’ will focus on the death penalty,
detention, etc., which are traditionally classified under the right to life and personal
liberty.
6) Ministry of Health and Welfare, ‘White Paper on Suicide Prevention 2021,“ July 2021.
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