NHRCK Held a Joint Seminar on Business Management Integrated with Human Rights
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) and the Korean Constitutional Law Association held a joint seminar on business respect for human rights, corporate social responsibility and Constitutional basis for business responsibility to respect the rights of workers on June 10, 2011. The seminar was widely attended by members of the Korean Constitutional Law Association and Constitutional law academics.
The seminar was organized to consider corporate responsibilities to respect human rights from a Constitutional perspective and State duties to ensure the business respect for human rights in our society. Article 119 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea stipulated, “the economic order shall be based on a respect for freedom and creative initiative of enterprises and individuals in economic affairs” and “the State may regulate and coordinate economic affairs, …, to prevent the domination of the market and the abuse of economic power and to democratize the economy through harmony among the economic agents.” Also, Articles 32 and 33 established the right to work and related labor rights.
The corporate social responsibility has become a global agenda. The United Nations continues to make efforts to encourage business respect for human rights, providing various regulations and guidelines on business management integrated with human rights. As a result, the global business environment has been moving towards stressing corporate social responsibilities including the protection of human rights.
