Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/mac/TEXT/HUMANrts/KOREA__S.TXU

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TITLE:  REPUBLIC OF KOREA
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995



Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

The Korean people have the right to elect their own
government.  The Constitution, as amended in 1987, provides for
the direct election of the President and for a mixed system of
direct and proportional election of legislators to the
unicameral National Assembly.  The President serves a single
5-year term and may not be reelected.  The National Assembly's
term is 4 years.

There is universal suffrage for all citizens aged 20 or above,
and elections are held by secret ballot.  Kim Young Sam, who
took office in February 1992, is Korea's first civilian chief
executive in nearly 30 years.

Because of cultural traditions and discrimination, women occupy
few important positions in government.  In past governments,
the only woman in the Cabinet had been the second minister for
political affairs, whose portfolio was Women's Affairs.
Currently there are two women in the Cabinet, holding
portfolios of Women's Affairs and Education.  In addition, a
woman was appointed mayor of Kwangmyong City, and a female
legislator was appointed to chair one of the special committees
of the National Assembly.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

Several nongovernmental private organizations are active in
promoting human rights, and they operate without government
restriction.  Chief among these groups are the Lawyers for a
Democratic Society, Sarangbang, the Human Rights Committee of
the National Council of Churches in Korea, the Korean Bar
Association, and "Mingahyup," an association of the families of
political prisoners.  These groups publish reports on the human
rights situation in Korea and make their views known both
inside and outside the country.  Government and ruling party
officials generally have been willing to meet with
international human rights groups.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

     Women

A conservative Confucian tradition has left women subordinate
to men socially, economically, and legally.  In some companies
women are expected to resign upon marriage or no later than the
birth of their first child.  There has been some limited and
gradual change in social mores and attitudes affecting women;
for example, women have full access to education, and a few
have become government officials and hold elected office.

The Government has not effectively enforced equal employment
opportunity legislation dating to 1988.  As a result there are
very few women who work as company executives or leading
officials in government.  While women account for just over 40
percent of the economically active population, the average
female worker's wage remained a little over half of that of the
average male worker.

The traditional preference for male children continues in Korea
today, although it is less pronounced among people in their
twenties and thirties.  Korean law bans sex testing and
abortions except when the woman's life is in danger, a
hereditary disease would be passed along, or in case of rape or
incest.  However, fetal sex testing and abortion of female
fetuses remain common, and it is estimated that when today's
children reach marrying age there will be 400,000 "surplus
bachelors."

Violence against women remains pervasive, and the law does not
provide adequate protection.  Spouse abuse is common, and some
women's rights groups maintain that it has worsened in the past
few years.  The Amended Family Law, which went into effect in
1991, permits women to head a household, recognizes a wife's
right to a portion of the couple's property, and allows a woman
to maintain greater contact with her offspring after a
divorce.  Although the revisions helped abused women, divorce
still remains a social taboo, and there is little government or
private assistance for divorced women.  These factors, plus the
fact that divorced women have limited employment opportunities
and have difficulty remarrying, lead some women to stay in
abusive situations.  The Government has created some shelters
for battered women and increased the number of child care
facilities, which gives women in abusive situations more
options, but women's rights groups say they fall far short of
effectively dealing with the problem.

Korea has an extremely high rate of reported rapes.  A 1992
report by the National Police Agency estimated that 9.8 women
per 1,000 are raped in South Korea.  Since that time, the
number of reported cases may well have risen.  The activities
of a number of women's groups in Korea have increased awareness
of the importance of reporting and prosecuting rapes as well as
less serious offenses such as sexual harassment in the
workplace.  In a precedent-setting case this spring, a female
researcher at Seoul National University who alleged sexual
harassment by a professor was awarded approximately $40,000 in
damages.  The award received wide and favorable media coverage,
but such cases remain the exception to the rule.  According to
women's rights groups, cases involving sexual harassment or
rape generally go unprosecuted, and perpetrators, if convicted,
often receive very lenient sentences.

     Children

Children's human rights and welfare have not been prominent
social policy issues.  The Government continued to devote an
increasing share of the overall budget to social expenditures,
which includes those related to the welfare of children.

Child abuse has not been studied extensively, and statistics on
such abuse are limited.  Reported cases of child abuse have
generally numbered less than 50 in recent years.  Although
experts believe that a number of cases go unreported, instances
of child abuse still appear to be relatively rare.  According
to official statistics, the number of runaway children each
year has dropped from about 7,000 in the past to approximately
1,000.  The Seoul metropolitan government runs a children's
counseling center, which investigates reports of abuse,
counsels families, and cares for runaway children.  In the
absence of a specific law against child abuse, however, it is
difficult to prosecute and punish child abusers unless they
commit a crime punishable under a separate law.

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

The Republic of Korea is a racially homogeneous country with no
ethnic minorities of significant size.  Nonetheless, regional
rivalries exist.  Persons from the southwestern region (North
and South Cholla provinces) have traditionally faced
discrimination.  Many Koreans believe that successive
governments led by figures from the southeastern region (North
and South Kyongsang provinces) have deliberately neglected the
economic development of the Cholla provinces for political
reasons.  President Kim attempted to alleviate longstanding
regional grievances, such as the violent suppression of the May
1980 Kwangju uprising, through more evenhanded government
spending and appointments.  Centuries of isolation and a
history of foreign invasion and occupation engendered a
tradition of xenophobia in Korea.

Citizenship in Korea is based on blood, not location of birth,
and Koreans must show as proof their family genealogy.  Thus,
Korean-born Chinese residents cannot obtain Korean citizenship
or become public servants and are unlikely to be hired by major
corporations.  Due to legal as well as societal discrimination,
many Chinese residents in Korea have emigrated to other
countries since the 1970's.  Amerasian children are usually
able to obtain Korean citizenship, and no legal discrimination
against them exists.  Informal discrimination, however, is
prevalent and makes it more difficult for Amerasians to succeed
in academia, business, or government.

     People with Disabilities

Community and social organizations have begun to consider the
rights and treatment of people with physical and mental
disabilities.  Although there are public displays of concern
for the disabled, such as the Special Olympics and television
documentaries, public facilities for their everyday care and
use remained inadequate, and their general treatment by society
discriminatory.  The Government lacked adequate educational
programs and schools for severely disabled people.  The
Government did not discriminate officially against the disabled
who were capable of attending regular schools, but societal
pressures and cultural biases have a negative impact on that
access.  The Government has introduced guidelines encouraging
businesses to reserve a portion of jobs for the diasbled.
Beginning in 1995, new public buildings will be required to
include facilities for the handicapped such as a ramp access to
entrances, a wheelchair lift, and parking spaces for the
disabled.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

The Constitution gives workers, with the exception of public
service employees and teachers, the right to free association.
There are some blue-collar public sector unions in railroads,
telecommunications, the postal service, and the national
medical center.  The Trade Union Law specifies that only one
union is permitted at each place of work and that all unions
are required to notify the authorities when formed or
dissolved.  About 16.4 percent of all Korean workers are
members of a union.

In the past, the Government did not formally recognize labor
federations which were not part of or affiliated with the
country's two legally recognized labor groupings--the
Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and the independent
Korean Federation of Clerical and Financial Workers.  In the
past several years, however, the Labor Ministry officially
recognized some independent white-collar federations
representing hospital workers, journalists, and office workers
at construction firms and government research institutes.
Korean courts ruled in 1992 that affiliation to the FKTU is not
required in order to be registered as a legal labor
federation.  In practice, labor federations not formally
recognized by the Labor Ministry existed and worked without
government interference, unless authorities considered their
involvement in labor disputes disruptive.

The Government, however, did arrest unionists it viewed as
acting as third parties in instigating or prolonging labor
disputes.  The number of workers arrested for labor-related
activities increased to over 60, compared with 11 in 1993.
About 30 workers were still in jail as of year's end.  During
the summer, for example, authorities arrested more than 20
members of Chongihyup, an unregistered union of railway
engineers, for leading an illegal railroad strike in June that
paralyzed the transportation network for several days.  Other
unionists whom authorities alleged had entered the labor
movement to foment social unrest were also arrested.  In
September police detained five members of the Songnam area
workers' association and charged them under the NSL with trying
to indoctrinate workers with Kim Il Sung's "juche" ideology.

The Government continued the ban on labor union activities by
public and private schoolteachers, arguing that the teachers'
union (Chonkyojo) is an essentially political organization with
radical aims.  The Government continued its program of
reinstating some of the 1,500 fired teachers if they resigned
from Chonkyojo.

No minimum number of members are required to form a union, and
unions may be formed without a vote of the full prospective
membership.  Election and labor laws forbid unions from
donating money to political parties or participating in
election campaigns.  However, trade unionists have circumvented
the ban by temporarily resigning their union posts and running
for office on the ticket of a political party or as an
independent.

Strikes are prohibited in government agencies, state-run
enterprises, and defense industries.  By law, enterprises
determined to be of "public interest," including public
transportation, utilities, public health, banking,
broadcasting, and communications must submit to
government-ordered arbitration in lieu of striking.  The Labor
Dispute Adjustment Act requires unions to notify the Labor
Ministry of their intention to strike, and it mandates a 10-day
"cooling-off period" before a strike may legally begin.  (This
period is 15 days in public interest sectors.)  Labor laws
prohibit retribution against workers who have conducted a legal
strike and allow workers to file complaints of unfair labor
practices against employers.

The FKTU is affiliated with the International Confederation of
Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).  Most of the FKTU's 20 constituent
federations maintain affiliations with international trade
secretariats, as do KCIIF white-collar federations and the KTUC
Metalworkers Council.  In response to freedom of association
complaints lodged by Korean dissident and independent unions,
the International Labor Organization (ILO) Committee on Freedom
of Association again issued a report in 1994 which recommended
that the Government bring Korean labor law and policy up to
international worker rights standards in accordance with the
principle of free association.

The Government under President Kim continued to cultivate a
more neutral stance in labor disputes.  For example, the
Government refused to intervene in the strike at Hyundai Heavy
Industries (HHI), the first time since 1987 that a strike at
HHI did not lead to state intervention.  Police intervention in
labor disputes was relatively rare.  During the summer,
however, the Government deployed police to arrest workers
conducting sitdown demonstrations connected with the railroad
and subway strikes.  Riot police also dispersed striking
workers who had occupied buildings at Kumho and Daewoo
factories.

There were no reports of employer-hired squads assaulting
workers in 1994.

Since July 1991, South Korea has been suspended from the U.S.
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) insurance
programs because of the Government's infringements on freedom
of association and other worker rights.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The Constitution and the Trade Union Law provide for the right
of workers to collective bargaining and collective action.
This law also empowers workers to file complaints of unfair
labor practices against employers who interfere with union
organizing or practice discrimination against unionists.
Employers found guilty of unfair practices can be required to
reinstate workers who were fired for union activities.

Extensive collective bargaining is practiced, even with unions
that are not legally recognized by the Government.  Korea's
labor laws do not extend the right to organize and bargain
collectively to government employees, including employees of
state or public-run enterprises, defense industries, and public
and private schoolteachers.

Workers in Korea's two export processing zones (EPZ's),
designated by the Government as public interest enterprises,
whose rights to organize were formally restricted, have now
been given all the rights enjoyed by workers in other sectors
of the economy.

Korea has no independent system of labor courts.  The central
and local labor commissions form a semiautonomous agency of the
Labor Ministry that adjudicates disputes in accordance with the
Labor Dispute Adjustment Law.  Each labor commission is
composed of equal representation from labor (represented by the
FKTU), management, and "the public interest."  Local labor
commissions are empowered to decide on remedial measures in
cases involving unfair labor practices and to mediate and, in
some situations, arbitrate labor disputes.  Arbitration is
compulsory in sectors of the economy (e.g., utilities and
transportation) that are deemed essential to public welfare.

The Trade Union Law and Labor Dispute Adjustment Law forbid
third-party intervention in union and labor disputes by
federations not recognized by the Government (such as
Chonnohyup and KCIIF), but they allow recognized labor
federations, principally the FKTU, its affiliates, and some
independent white-collar federations, to assist member unions.
The ban on third-party intervention also exempts mediation
efforts by lawyers, experts, and others who have the consent of
both labor and management, a policy much criticized by non-FKTU
labor leaders.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The Constitution provides that no person shall be punished,
placed under preventive restrictions, or subjected to
involuntary labor, except as provided by law and through lawful
procedures.  Forced or compulsory labor is not condoned by the
Government and is generally not practiced.  There were reports,
however, of illegal foreign workers who were not paid back
wages by their employers but who continued to work for their
employers or who lacked the funds to return to their home
countries.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

The Labor Standards Law prohibits the employment of persons
under the age of 13 without a special employment certificate
from the Labor Ministry.  Because there is compulsory education
until the age of 13, few special employment certificates are
issued for full-time employment.  Some children are allowed to
do part-time jobs such as selling newspapers.  In order to gain
employment, children under 18 must have written approval from
their parents or guardians.  Employers may require minors to
work only a limited number of overtime hours and are prohibited
from employing them at night without special permission from
the Labor Ministry.  Child labor laws and regulations are clear
and usually enforced when violations are found, but the
Government employs too few inspectors to carry out regular
inspections.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

The Government implemented a minimum wage law in 1988.  The
minimum wage level is reviewed annually.  As of September,
1994, the minimum wage was raised to $12.00 (9,360 Won) per
day.  Companies with fewer than 10 employees are exempt from
this law.  Due to Korea's tight labor market, however, most
firms pay wages well above the minimum in order to attract and
retain workers.  The FKTU and other unions continue to claim
that the current minimum wage does not meet the minimum
requirements of urban workers.  In fact, a worker earning the
minimum wage would have some difficulty in providing a decent
standard of living for himself and his family, despite the
fringe benefits such as transportation expenses with which
Korean companies normally supplement salaries.  (The Government
notes that the money an average Korean blue-collar worker takes
home in overtime and bonuses significantly raises the total
compensation package.)  According to the Ministry of Health and
Social affairs, 5.2 percent of the population lived below the
poverty level in 1992.

Employers continue to discriminate against foreign workers,
most of whom come from China, the Philippines, Bangladesh,
Nepal, and Pakistan to work, often illegally.  The Government
has sought to alleviate the problem of illegal workers by
initiating a pilot program whereby 20,000 foreign workers are
allowed to enter Korea legally to work at established wages and
with legal safeguards.  Illegal foreign workers, however, who
probably number more than 60,000, still suffer significant
hardships at the workplace, and employers often provide them
substandard living accommodations.  It is difficult for illegal
workers to seek relief for loss of pay or unsatisfactory living
and working conditions because they are always under the threat
of being deported.

Amendments to the Labor Standards Law passed in 1989 brought
the maximum regular workweek down to 44 hours, with provision
for overtime to be compensated at a higher wage, and also
provide for a 24-hour rest period each week.  However, labor
groups claim that the Government does not adequately enforce
these laws, especially with regard to small companies.

The Government sets health and safety standards, but South
Korea suffers from unusually high accident rates.  The accident
rate continues to decline gradually, due to public and union
pressure for better working conditions.  However, the number of
deaths resulting from work-related accidents remains very high
by international standards.  The Labor Ministry has improved
enforcement of safety standards but still lacks enough
inspectors to enforce the laws fully.  The Industrial Safety
and Health Law does not guarantee security for workers who
remove themselves from dangerous work environments.