Song Doo-hwan Appointed as Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission... "Addressing Human Rights Issues with a 'One Team' Attitude"

Song Doo-hwan, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, is delivering his inaugural speech at 2 p.m. on the 6th at the Human Rights Education Center on the 10th floor of the National Human Rights Commission building.
[Photo by National Human Rights Commission]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Song Doo-hwan, the newly appointed Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (72), officially took office on the 6th, beginning a three-year term.

In his inaugural speech, Chairperson Song stated, "Over the past 20 years, the Human Rights Commission has strived to establish human rights as a new standard and to embed human rights awareness into people's daily lives." He self-assessed the current status of the Commission by saying, "Now, when people feel they have experienced injustice, they think of and turn to the Human Rights Commission first."

He particularly identified new human rights challenges such as socio-economic polarization and inequality, intensified gender equality issues, labor rights, problems of hate and discrimination, disaster situations like COVID-19, and human rights issues arising from the acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI) and the digital economy. Chairperson Song emphasized, "It is time to review whether the Commission's activities so far have fully embodied the aspirations at its founding, establish measures for supplementation and improvement, and lay the foundation for the next 20 years," adding, "We must actively respond by encompassing all newly emerging human rights issues."

He also placed emphasis on the active promotion of the Commission's ongoing major tasks. Chairperson Song said, "The Human Rights Commission must strive to promptly complete legislative tasks such as the Equality Act, which has been proposed in the National Assembly after long efforts, the amendment to the National Human Rights Commission Act for the introduction of the Military Human Rights Protection Officer, and the Basic Human Rights Policy Act, which the National Human Rights Commission and the Ministry of Justice plan to jointly propose."

Furthermore, he stressed, "I believe that if all members of the Human Rights Commission recognize themselves as a community with a common goal, a so-called 'one team,' and engage in open and sincere dialogue and communication, pooling wisdom and combining strength, any difficult task can be solved together."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.