The NHRC is independent from the any branches of Korean Government (11-18-2002)
In response to the President"s recent warning to the NHRC, that staff of the NHRC must receive prior permission from the government before traveling abroad, the NHRC clarified that the Commission, as an organization independent from the government, is not legally required to obtain such permission.
On 15 November the presidential office warned to the NHRC that Commission staff had violated regulations by not requesting prior approval for an overseas trip which they had taken. Kim, Chang-Kuk, the president of the Commission, and 3 other officials had visited New Delhi, India, from 9-14 November to attend the 7th Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF).
According to the papers the Blue House released regarding this incident, the NHRC was described as an independent institution, but one which belongs to the administration. However, after a three-year argument about the position of the Commission, the NHRC had been launched as a body independent from legislative, administrative, and judiciary branches. The position of the NHRC is definitely different from those of the Korean Independent Commission against Corruption (KICC) and the Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths.
According to paraphrase 8 under Article 19 of National Human Rights Commission Act, the NHRC has the mandate to exchange and cooperate with both international organizations related to human rights and domestic human rights institutions in foreign countries. The paraphrase 2 of Article 3 stipulates: "the Commission independently deals with the matters which fall under its jurisdiction."
The Blue House issued a public warning that the president of the NHRC had violated pertinent regulations. However, the NHRC is not required to receive prior presidential authorization for trip abroad, as the NHRC is an independent organization. So the NHRC maintains the position that the president of the NHRC has not violated any regulations.
When the NHRC requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to issue visas to the staff members of relevant divisions, the Ministry said that the NHRC must first provide documents indicating the President had approved the trip. Therefore, the NHRC sent a paper to verify that the Commission is an independent body. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade then notified the NHRC that the president of the Commission is not required to receive presidential permission because the NHRC is not an arm of the administration, but rather an independent body.
However, some newspapers reported that this NHRC trip was not necessary, quoting the comments from the Blue House. Nevertheless, these reports are not true. For the NHRC to participate in the APF meeting was very important, particularly since South Korea was to become a new member of the international human rights organization at that meeting. Besides, the president of the Commission had already reported to the President Kim Dae-Jung last May that he would attend this APF meeting.
Since Korea became a new member of APF, along with Thailand and Malaysia, the total member-countries of APF have come to 12. After a country applies to the APF, their qualifications as applicants are examined. If human rights organizations are found to be independent of the jurisdiction of administrative, legislative and judicial branches of the government under the Paris Principle of the UN, then the organization is allowed to become a member of the APF. Therefore, the Blue House warning on the Commission"s oversea trip was not only against the National Human Rights Commission Act, but also against the Paris Principle of the UN.
At this APF meeting, some of the discussions in which representatives of the NHRC participated were as follows: Asian Advisory Committee for lawyers, human trafficking of children and women, the abolition of capital punishment, pornography using children, and the actual conditions of individual countries in Asia.
The NHRC expressed regret over the Blue House"s recent warning on its officials" oversea travel, even though the Secretary General of the NHRC had explained the details to the secretary in charge of audit and inspection of the Blue House on 15 November, right after the staff who had traveled abroad returned to Korea.
