COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF REPORT PRESENTED BY REPUBLIC OF KOREA

MORNING
HR/CERD/99/6
3 March 1999





The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning concluded its consideration of a report submitted by the Government of the Republic of Korea on efforts to implement the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in that country.

Formal, written observations and recommendations on the report will be issued towards the end of the Committee's three-week session, which concludes 19 March. Members of the delegation of the Republic of Korea spent much of the morning meeting answering questions raised by Committee members on such issues as illegal immigrants, industrial "trainees", and discrimination against Chinese ethnic groups, among others.

Theodoor van Boven, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report, said that the Government of the Republic of Korea had not yet fully implemented the provisions of the Convention and encouraged it to do so before submitting the next periodic report.

Also during this morning's meeting, Committee Chairperson Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr drew the attention of Committee members to human rights violations taking place around the world and stressed that the experts could not remain silent about them. He said the massacres in the Great Lakes region and the situation of Kurds were of great concern to the Committee. The members of the Committee should be able to express their concern about the bad treatment of some 40 million Kurds who were dispersed in many countries.

Mr. Aboul-Nasr emphasized that the committee should express its concern on all instances of human rights violations and discrimination by publishing statements on developments as they happened. Several experts subscribed to the idea.

Also participating in the discussion were Committee experts Ivan Garvalov, Ion Diaconu, Michel E. Sherifis, Eduardo Ferrero Costa, Yuri A. Rechetov, Régis de Gouttes, Carlos Lechuga Hevia, Mario Jorge Yutzis, Shanti Sadiq Ali, and Michael Parker Banton.

As one of the 153 States parties to the Convention, the Republic of Korea is obliged to submit periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to implement the provisions of the treaty.

The Committee also discussed a revised proposal submitted by one of its members on procedures of the Committee. When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will take up the report of Finland (document CERD/C/320/Add.2).

Discussion

JONG HOON KIM, Minister at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations Office at Geneva, responding to numerous questions raised by the Committee experts during yesterday's meeting, said that Korea had no intention of fortifying itself in the name of the homogeneity of its people. The Korean people understood that in the new era of globalization, it was difficult to live in a closed society. Rather, there was a need to coexist harmoniously with the different cultures in the world.

Mr. Kim said that the Government had been pursuing a policy of promoting and protecting human rights through legislative and administrative measures. In order to comply with article 2 of the Convention, the Government was pursuing a policy of eliminating racial discrimination and it had prepared legislation to be promulgated before the end of the year. The authorities were also preparing an act which would condemn all propaganda and all organizations which were based on ideas of superiority of one race or ethnic group.

In keeping with its conviction for the respect and promotion of human rights, the Republic of Korea had arranged for the establishment of national human rights institutions, Mr. Kim said. Those future human rights institutions would act independently and pursue human rights policies which would be prepared by legislators, he added.

Mr. Kim said that the condemnation of racial segregation and apartheid should not be limited only to South Africa, but it should be widened. The Republic of Korea appreciated the dramatic transformation of South Africa, which was now fostering human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the dignity of all individuals without distinction as to race or colour.

HO YOUNG AHN, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea, said that the "Consulting Centre for Foreign Workers" promoted and protected the rights and interests of foreign workers. It also served as an institution to file complaints of any nature by foreign workers residing in the country. In 1998 alone, about 1,228 complaints had been lodged with the Centre.

Concerning the industrial "trainees", Mr. Ahn said that most of them came from developing countries to fill the labour shortage created during the Korean economic boom. Although those persons came to Korea as trainees, later they were engaged in lucrative work to satisfy the labour needs of Korea’s industrial sectors. In the cases where industrial "trainees" were recruited to work for pay, all labour-related laws applied to them. All workers in Korea had access to medical service and were covered by the Korean medical insurance system to that effect, he said.

With regard to illegal foreign workers, whose number largely exceeded 129,000, Mr. Ahn said that since the legal measures adopted by the Ministry of Labour in October 1998, there had been a tendency to regularize the status of this segment of workers. He said that International Labour Office (ILO) convention No.111 on discrimination with respect to employment was not applicable to the illegal workers who were also illegal residents.

Mr. Ahn said that the Government had been organizing human rights symposia every year in addition to regional meetings involving different categories of persons. Those symposia had significantly advanced respect for the principle of human rights protection, he added.

Regarding concerns about possible discrimination against ethnic Chinese living in Korea, Mr. Ahn said that there was no de jure discrimination. There was a de facto discrimination in the minds of Korean people triggered by the financial crisis of 1997 which had been deeply felt. However, that situation was now changing. In addition, there was no case of discrimination with regard to the naturalization process of persons of Chinese origin. In 1997 alone, there were 200 cases of naturalization, out of which 157 were persons of Chinese origin.

THEODOOR VAN BOVEN, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of the Republic of Korea, said that Korea had still not fully implemented the provisions of the Convention, particularly articles 2 and 4. There was no explicit prohibition of discrimination on the basis of race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin. In addition, Korean law contained no provisions explicitly punishing acts of racial discrimination and prohibiting organizations which promoted and encouraged racial discrimination.

Mr. van Boven hoped that the next report from the Republic of Korea contained measures undertaken to implement fully all the provisions of the Convention. He also stressed the need to publicize the work of the Committee in the Korean mass media.