message to Korean society that hatred and racism towards foreigners are
serious criminal acts that shall not be tolerated.
Issue 5. Enactment of a Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Act
25. The South Korean NGOs’ Coalition for Enactment of Anti-Discrimination Law,
active since 2010, was re-launched in March 2017 as the number of civic
groups under the alliance has sharply increased from 25 to 105 organizations,
indicating that demands for the enactment of anti-discrimination act is high,
however, there are also strong objections to the idea as it might promote
homosexuality and bring about social chaos.
26. The enactment of Anti-Discrimination Act is necessary in improving the quality
of the lives of disadvantaged and minority groups who are experiencing
discrimination, actively addressing unreasonable practices and policies, and
realizing the principle of equality, which is the core principle of the
Constitution. In particular, the idea of enacting a comprehensive AntiDiscrimination Act that includes discrimination in all its forms was suggested
as discrimination is getting diversified and intensified in modern society.
27. In this regard, a comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Act should be enacted as
soon as and the government should come up with a roadmap that would
encourage the participation from the society members.
V. Equality before the Law in the Enjoyment of the Rights and Prohibition of
Discrimination
Issue 6. The Right to Receive Equal Treatment before the Law
28. Article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic Korea uses the term “nationality”
and “citizen”. The Constitutional Court of Korea stipulates that a "foreigner"
has a status similar to that of a "national," and therefore a foreigner is entitled
to the basic rights in principle. On the other hand, there are those who deny
the basic rights in principle of foreigners, claiming that in accordance with the
Constitution, a foreigner is not entitled to the basic rights in principle. 5
5 Decision by the Constitutional Court of Korea, September 29, 2001. Case NO. 2007Hun-Ma1083
7