ANNUAL REPORT 2015
Chapter 2.
Domestic and International Environment in 2015
1. Inauguration of the New Chairperson and Moving into the New
Office
Year 2015 marks the 67th anniversary of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and the first year of the 4th National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human
Rights, the mid-term plan of the Commission from 2015 to 2017. Chairperson Lee Sung-Ho
took office on August 13th as the 7th Chairperson of the Commission, announcing his blueprint
for the Commission to strengthen communication and cooperation. The Commission moved
into the new office in the Narakium Bldg., 340 Samil-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul on October 5th after
14 years in the old office in the Kumsegi Building, 6 Mugyo-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul since the foundation.
2. Domestic Environment
The case of a daycare employee’s assault on a child in Incheon in January took the society
by surprise, highlighting human rights violations on children as a serious social issue. This led
to revision of the Enforcement Regulation of the Infant Care Act on September 18th, which
required all day care centers to install CCTVs inside them.
On the other hand, on February 26th, the Constitutional Court ruled that Article 241 of the
Criminal Act on adultery, which has been in place for 62 years, violates the anti-overrestriction
principle and infringes on people’s right to sexual autonomy, privacy, and freedom.
In addition, repeated human rights violations in the military attracted major attention due to
recent cases, including: the reservist’s shooting spree at the Reserve Forces Training Center
in Naegok-dong, Seoul, on May 13th; and the perpetrator’s violence against his inmate in the
Military Correctional Institution in August after his persecution for the beating that killed Mr.
Yoon, a Private First Class of the Army’s 28th division. This led to a discussion on the necessity
of the Military Ombudsman to Protect Human Rights of Soldiers in the National Assembly.
While youth unemployment is increasingly emphasized as one of the most serious social
problems in Korea, the Commission witnessed the case of a university professor who beat and
forced his ex-pupils to eat feces for two years. In July, the entire country was in shock over such
a terrible human rights abuse.
6 | National Human Rights Commission of Korea