UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 45) The Government has continued its research and review on a general act on anti- discrimination, encompassing grounds for discrimination such as gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation. While studying relevant domestic legislations, international human rights norms, and legislations of other countries, the Government has sought to address social and economic issues that can be entailed in the enactment of a general anti- discrimination act and to strike a balance between the right to equality and the principle of private autonomy. In 2010, the Government organized a special sub-committee consisting of government officials from relevant ministries, academics, legal experts and interest groups for in-depth discussions in this regard. In 2011, two draft bills for anti- discrimination proposed by lawmakers were submitted to the National Assembly, but they expired with the conclusion of the 18th National Assembly session in May 2012.

UN Compilation:
Para 8) CEDAW regretted the slow progress in the adoption of the Anti- Discrimination Bill which had been on hold since May 200834 with CESCR and CRC regretting that the legislative definition of discrimination does not contain an express prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation and nationality. The Government in its replies to CERD in 2008 indicated that it was redoubling its efforts to introduce the Anti- Discrimination Act. CEDAW called for urgent steps to be taken towards the adoption of a comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Act, in line with the Convention and article 2 (4) of the NHRC Act.

National Report:
Para 43) To tackle prejudice and discrimination against single-parent families, schools at all levels provide education on single-parent families and educate relevant officials on building up expertise on the matter. Furthermore, the Single-Parent Family Support Act was amended in 2016, which sets forth the principle of non-discrimination against children from single-parent families, when caring and educating children. The Government organizes the awareness campaign on single-parent families, while supporting teen fathers and teen mothers by means of additional child support subsidies, education subsidies to prevent academic suspension, and subsidies to support their financial independence. The Government also legislated the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment in 2014 to enable single parents with minor children to receive child support from noncustodial parents. The Child Support Agency was established in 2015 to offer a one-stop service covering consultations, negotiations, litigation and collection, and follow-up management.

National Report:
Para 44) In order to address the inequality of women in employment and labour market, the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act stipulates the principle of equal pay for equal work, the violation of which is subject to criminal punishment. Various policies have been put in place to enable work-family balance and prevent women’s career break, such as childcare leave, part-time job, flexible work arrangements, and the establishment of infrastructure for telecommuting and ubiquitous working. Childcare leave was expanded in 2014 to allow the parents with children under the age 8 or grade 2 to take the leave up to one year. In order to promote paternity leave, the Government introduced a Father’s Month program since 2014. If both parents take the childcare leave successively for the same child, the childcare benefit for the second parent is raised to 100% of their ordinary monthly wage up to KRW 1.5 million for the first month of childcare leave.
Para 47) … Since 2013, the enforcement regulation was amended to broaden the scope of the workplace obligated to submit implementation plans. Under the previous regulation, workplaces that fall short of the 60% threshold of the proportion of female employee in the total employee compared to the industry average were obligated to submit the implementation plans. The amended regulation raised the threshold to 70%. The Government also introduced the scheme in which the list of the employers failing to implement proactive employment improvement measures are published, and set up the specific standards. As a result, the proportion of female workforce in the concerned public agencies increased to 36.4% in 2015 and 37.3% in 2016, and the proportion of female in the management increased to 15.9% in 2015 and 16.4% in 2016.

UN Compilation:
Para 53) The HR Committee was concerned about discrimination against women and about the small proportion of women in decision-making positions, the high rate of women in irregular employment and the high wage gap between men and women.
Para 54) The Working Group on business and human rights noted that women reportedly left the labour force at a high rate when they married or had children and found it difficult to reenter the workforce after a career break. ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations welcomed the measures taken by the Government to reconcile work and family responsibilities as a means of improving women’s participation in employment and requested the Government to continue its efforts.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 9) NHRCK reported on the under-representation of women in the labour market. Women often had to take up low paid non regular jobs. Balancing work and family life remained difficult largely due to the lack of decent public day care facilities and the low use of paternity leaves. The Government has made some efforts to increase employment rates of women and younger people, but those efforts had limited effect in the last three years.
Para 72) JS2 reported on discrimination against women and on the gender wage gap. Additionally, about 53 percent of women employees were in non-regular jobs.

National Report:
Para 45) The Government has continued its research and review on a general act on anti- discrimination, encompassing grounds for discrimination such as gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation. While studying relevant domestic legislations, international human rights norms, and legislations of other countries, the Government has sought to address social and economic issues that can be entailed in the enactment of a general anti- discrimination act and to strike a balance between the right to equality and the principle of private autonomy. In 2010, the Government organized a special sub-committee consisting of government officials from relevant ministries, academics, legal experts and interest groups for in-depth discussions in this regard. In 2011, two draft bills for anti- discrimination proposed by lawmakers were submitted to the National Assembly, but they expired with the conclusion of the 18th National Assembly session in May 2012.

Para 52) The Government submitted to the National Assembly in November 2011 the amendments to the Criminal Act. The proposed amendments prohibit acts stipulated in the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking annexed to the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime with relevant penal provisions. Having expired as the 18th National Assembly session closed in May 2012, the bill will be re-submitted to the 19th National Assembly. The Government plans to take domestic procedures required to ratify the Protocol after the proposed amendments are passed.

Para 53) In order to prevent inter-country marriage suspected of human trafficking, the Government amended the Act on Management of Marriage Brokerage Agency in 2010. The amendment requires international marriage brokerage agencies to provide personal information of service users to each other in writing and to offer translation and interpretation services to facilitate communication between the would-be couple. In February 2012, the Act was amended again to add provisions prohibiting certain acts of the brokers that may lead to trafficking with a penalty for non-compliance. In addition, local governments in charge of the registration of international marriage brokerage agencies regularly monitor practices of the agencies in cooperation with relevant authorities.

Para 54) As an effort to deter the international sex trade, Korean nationals convicted of sex trade abroad may now be denied of issuing or renewing passports, upon the notification by Office of Prosecution to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Para 55) Foreign women, who are acknowledged as victims of trafficking for sex trade, are entitled to the same protection and support as local women in accordance with applicable legislations. In certain circumstances, some victims may be granted work/residence permit.

National Report:
Para 49) The victim of rape is defined as a "woman" in the Criminal Act without further specification, which means that anyone who rapes his wife can be prosecuted under the Criminal Act. In effect, the Busan District Court in January 2009 and the Seoul High Court in September 2011 recognized in their rulings aggravated rape charges against husbands, and the rulings have been upheld.

Para 50) Domestic violence is prosecuted in accordance with the Criminal Act and the Special Act on Punishment of Crimes of Domestic Violence and Others, the latter of which stipulates imposing protective disposition on perpetrators of domestic violence for the purpose of change of environment and correction of behavior. The amendments of the Special Act in October 2011 grant emergency intervention authority to judicial public officers in order to ensure speedy protection of victims and allow victims to directly request protection to the court. Starting January 2012, sexual crimes, including rape, against family members are accommodated in the scope of domestic violence, making their victims eligible for the protective services provided to victims of domestic violence, which include counseling sessions, housing at shelters, assistance for medical care, and education for independence and rehabilitation. The amended Act on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Protection of Victims and Others effective from May 2012 gives police officers, when dispatched to the scene of domestic violence, the authority to enter and investigate the crime scene to protect victims. It enables effective early response by police officers against domestic violence. In addition, the Government stepped up its efforts to raise awareness of the fact that domestic violence is a crime that is punishable by law, not a private matter.

Para 57) As a part of the Government's efforts to integrate the perspective of children in criminal procedures, the Office of Prosecution developed a Plan for Improvement of Investigation Practices into Crimes against Children. The plan aims to ensure reliability of statements made by child victims, prevent the "secondary victimization" of child victims in the criminal process, and reflect child victims' statements and perspectives as much as possible. Prosecutors dedicated to child crimes oversee the entire process from preliminary investigation to the execution of sentence and professional advice from child psychiatrists or clinical psychologists is sought. Starting from 2011, it has become mandatory to seek professional opinions on statements of victims in the case of sexual crimes against children aged less than 13. To the end, professionals trained by the Government have been staffed at nationwide comprehensive support centers for victims of sexual crimes.

Para 58) The Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse was amended in September 2011 as described in Paragraph 16 of this report, and six training sessions from March to June 2012 were offered to attorneys designated as legal aides for children. The sessions aim to enhance their understanding of children in general, children with disabilities, and sufferings caused by sexual abuse.

Para 59) As of June 2012, the Government is working on amending the Special Act on Punishment of Sexual Crimes and Others to provide victims of sexual crimes who are children or have disabilities with assistance from professional aides for making their statements in criminal proceedings. The professional aides refer to those who understand psychological and linguistic characteristics associated with children and the disabled. They participate in investigations or legal proceedings from an impartial standpoint to facilitate or assist communication and to ensure the full representation of the victims' statements without distortion.