On August 1, 2003, the Korean National Assembly appointed Man-Heum Kim, 46, political science professor and researcher at the Institute for Asia-Pacific Studies of the Catholic University of Korea, to the position of commissioner (nonpermanent) of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Commissioner Kim was born in Jang-Heung in 1957, graduated from the Seoul National University Department of Political Science in 1981, and received both his MA and his PhD at Seoul National University. Commissioner Kim also served as a member of the Executive Committee at the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (1994 – 1996), as a researcher at the Center for Social Sciences of Seoul National University (1994 – 2001), as an executive director of the Korean Political Science Association (1998), and as the chair of the policy committee at Korean People’s Alliance for Social Reformation (2000 – 2001.)
