South Korea set to ratify four key ILO conventions

Posted on : 2017-11-21 17:18 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
The Park Geun-hye administration had refused ratification in 2013
The Federation of Korea Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions hold a press conference in Gwanghwamun Plaza on Aug. 22 urging the government to ratify the ILO core conventions. (by Kim Seong-gwang
The Federation of Korea Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions hold a press conference in Gwanghwamun Plaza on Aug. 22 urging the government to ratify the ILO core conventions. (by Kim Seong-gwang

The South Korean government notified the UN of plans to ratify four key International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions on freedom of association and prohibiting forced labor. This is the first time the South Korean government has notified the international community of specific plans to ratify key ILO conventions.

According to accounts on Nov. 20 from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society, and other human rights and civic groups, the South Korean government announced on Nov. 14 that will accept 85 of 218 recommendations included in the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR), including the ratification of key ILO conventions. The UPR is a procedure conducted by the UN every four years and six months to review human rights conditions in member countries and recommend improvements.

The South Korean government was previously urged to ratify the key ILO conventions in 2013, but refused the recommendation on the grounds that “some convention provisions [did] not accord with South Korea’s laws or situation.” The four key conventions not ratified by the Park Geun-hye administration concerned freedom of association (Nos. 87 and 98) and bans on forced labor (Nos. 29 and 105). The failure to ratify them has resulted in South Korea being viewed in the international community as a place where basic labor rights are not fully guaranteed.

In addition to ratification of the key conventions, other recommendations accepted by the South Korean government included efforts to promote procedural transparency and guarantee independence in National Human Rights Commission elections and appointments; promote migrant worker rights; punish employers violating labor laws; and protect the rights of women and children.

But the administration did not state whether it plans to accept any of the 130 other recommendations, including abolition of the death penalty, a ban on anti-LGBT discrimination, institution of an alternative to mandatory military service, prohibitions on racial discrimination, amendment of the National Security Act, and decriminalization of defamation and criminal contempt.

The administration must make a decision on whether to accept these recommendations before the South Korean review report is official adopted in Mar. 2018. It has also announced that it does not plan to accept some of the recommendations, including ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families and the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education. Seoul also indicated it would refuse to grant the immediate prison release and repatriation of North Korean defector Kim Ryon-hui, who wants to return to North Korea, along with the release of 12 female workers who defected from a North Korean restaurant in China last year and are currently under NIS “protective custody.”

MINBYUN and other human rights groups stressed that the South Korean government should hold discussions with civil society on acceptance of UN member country recommendations. They also called on human rights groups to continue monitoring the administration’s acceptance and implementation of recommendations.

By Park Tae-woo, staff reporter

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