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The National Human Rights Commission of Korea’s Chairperson Nomination Committee begins open recruitment for the nominees
-Open recruitment from June 15 to June 25,
the candidates will be shortlisted for the final decision-
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea’s(NHRCK) Chairperson Nomination Committee began its first meeting for the open recruitment process on June 14, 2021 and the results of the meeting are as follows:
○ The Commission’s Chairperson Nomination Committee will open-recruit and review the nominees for the Chairperson position to succeed the outgoing Chairperson Young-ae Choi, and shortlist the candidate for the President of the Republic of Korea to make final decision.
○ The formation of the Nomination Committee brought a fair amount of attention. The members of the Nomination Committee were open-recruited from May 31 to June 4, and the President finalized 9 members recommended by the Korean Bar Association considering the candidate’s age, gender, business area and their level of expertise in the field of human rights. Experts in various fields including immigration, labour, medicine and disabilities, and activists working in different areas such as Busan, Gwangju and Daejeon were included as the candidates for the Committee members’ position. There are also human rights activists in their twenties to embrace the voices of young people.
○ The formation and operation of the Nomination Committee was first introduced in 2018, the incumbent Chairperson Young-ae Choi being the first Chairperson to be appointed following this process. Also, as of this year, the recommendation for Chairperson’s position can now be made by other people, whereas only self-recommendation was possible up until this point. The Nomination Committee hopes to enhance the transparency and the level of public involvement in the process of appointing the Chairperson of the NHRCK, which were demanded by the civil society and the international community.
○ At the first committee meeting held on June 14, 2021, Tae-sun Kwon(Chairperson, Lee Young-hee Foundation Board of Directors) was nominated as the head of the Nomination Committee through the mutual vote. The Nomination Committee will select the Chairperson candidates, who are considered as the persons capable of conducting the mission of the NHRCK independently and fairly. The notice and the application(recommendation) form to apply for the Chairperson’s position can be found on the NHRCK website(humanrights.go.kr)-Main Activities-Notices-‘General Notices’
○ The list of the Nomination Committee members is as follows:
Committee Member |
Name |
Area |
Career |
Head of the Committee |
Tae-sun Kwon (F) |
Seoul |
Chairperson, Lee Young-hee Foundation Board of Directors |
Members of the Committee |
Jin Park (F) |
Gyeonggi |
Standing Activist, Dasan Human Rights Center |
Sang-jae Lee (M) |
Daejeon |
Secretariat, Daejeon-South Chungcheong Human Rights Association |
|
Chul-gap Lee (M) |
Gwangju |
Professor, Occupational Environment Divison, Chosun University College of Medicine |
|
Han-sook Lee (F) |
Busan |
Director, Migration and Human Rights Institute |
|
So-yeon Lim (F) |
Seoul |
Secretariat, Korea Council of Independent Living Centers for Mental Disabilities |
|
Ye-jung Jan (F) |
Seoul |
Standing Activist, Catholic Human Rights Commission |
|
Mi-hwa Jeong (M) |
Seoul |
Attorney at Law, Namsan LLC |
|
Seung-gi Hong (M) |
Incheon |
Professor, Inha University School of Law |
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