Legal and Institutional Foundations Must Be Established to Protect the Human Rights of Persons with Borderline Intellectual Functioning
— NHRCK Issues Opinion on Legislative Bills Concerning Persons with Borderline Intellectual Functioning —
□ The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (Chairperson Ahn Chang-ho; hereinafter "the NHRCK") expressed an opinion to the Speaker of the National Assembly on June 5, 2026, urging that the human rights of persons with borderline intellectual functioning be given fuller consideration during the National Assembly's deliberation of pending bills concerning this group.
□ The NHRCK emphasized that although persons with borderline intellectual functioning — those with an intelligence quotient (IQ) in the range of 71 to 84 — are estimated to account for approximately 13.6% of Korea's total population, they do not meet the criteria for intellectual disability under the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities, and as a result face compounded difficulties, falling outside the scope of legal and institutional protection.
□ Accordingly, the NHRCK made clear that rather than relying on a paternalistic, charity-based approach to welfare, there is an urgent need for a human-rights-based approach and the establishment of institutional foundations that account for the barriers faced by persons with borderline intellectual functioning and promote their full inclusion in society.
□ The principal contents of the opinion are as follows:
○ Regarding the definition of "persons with borderline intellectual functioning": The definition should explicitly establish a principle of multidimensional assessment that comprehensively considers limitations in cognitive ability, learning ability, and social and adaptive functioning, so as to reflect the diverse ways in which functional limitations manifest differently across individuals.
○ Regarding provisions on early diagnosis: A legal basis should be established for the State to fully or partially subsidize the cost of diagnostic testing for borderline intellectual functioning, in order to remove economic barriers to testing and ensure that affected individuals are identified at an early stage of life and swiftly incorporated into public support systems.
○ Regarding provisions on the rights of persons with borderline intellectual functioning: The legislation should define affected individuals as active rights-holders, explicitly guarantee their right to participate in and receive assistance during policy-making processes, and should not include provisions imposing obligations or expectations of effort on affected individuals, as such provisions risk recasting structural problems as individual failings.
○ Regarding provisions guaranteeing rights in criminal and judicial proceedings: The law should provide that a trusted support person may be permitted to be present ex officio (i.e., on the authority's own initiative, even without a request from the individual concerned) and must be permitted to be present whenever requested; mandate relevant training for police officers; and require that key policy and procedural information be produced and distributed in a form that affected individuals can understand.
○ Regarding employment support provisions: Measures to promote employment should be explicitly designated as the responsibility of the State and local governments, and a continuous employment support system should be established spanning vocational counseling and training, job placement, and post-employment adjustment guidance.
○ Regarding medical support and lifelong education support: The law should provide for specialized medical support — including psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, in addition to psychological therapy and counseling — and should regulate daily living skills training separately, under a "lifelong education support" framework; the content of lifelong education should include social skills training and legal education on crime prevention.
○ Regarding diagnostic systems: A diagnostic system suited to Korea's context should be established before the law takes effect.
□ The NHRCK plans to closely monitor legislative developments to ensure that a human-rights-centered perspective is substantively reflected during the National Assembly's deliberation of the bills, while cooperating with relevant agencies to build the necessary institutional framework.
