Discriminatory expressions of homosexuality will be removed from the dictionaries (11-15-2002)
The National Human Rights Commission succeeded in settling the petition that rights activists-the Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Federation, "Come Together" of Yonsei University, and other university clubs for homosexuals-had filed against the National Academy of the Korean Language (the publisher of the standard Korean Dictionary) and nine other dictionary publishers. They had demanded that these publishers revise the discriminatory expressions of homosexuality in their dictionaries.
The NHRC mediated the settlement between complainants and respondents during the deliberations over this incident. Five publishers expressed their intention that they would correct the definitions when revised editions are published, while four publishers responded that they would consult language institutes. The National Academy of the Korean Language also sent in written statement stating the opinion that they would reflect the complainants" opinions. According to this developments, the NHRC determined that the parties concerned agreed with each other and through deliberation have been able to reach a satisfactory settlement.
According to the result of the Commission"s probe, most dictionaries currently published in Korea-including Korean dictionaries, English-Korean dictionaries, and Korean-English dictionaries-have defined homosexuality as "sexual perversion" or "abnormal sexuality," using similarly disparaging terms. However, as most respondents accepted the demands of the complainants during the Commission"s deliberation, from this time forward, the discriminatory expressions about homosexuality will be removed from the various dictionaries published in Korea.
