Abstract
With the exception of the Equal Employment Act of 1987, antidiscrimination laws did not begin appearing in South Korea until the start of the new millennium. The Equal Employment Act was enacted following the 1987 June Struggle, driven by Korea’s working class, and which would become a milestone in Korea’s democratization process. Korea’s Constitution, which restricts presidency to single 5-year terms and establishes the Constitutional Court system, was amended as a result of this historic event.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The first law addressing sexual harassment was the Basic Act on Women’s Development, enacted in 1995. It was amended into the Basic Act on Gender Equality in 2015.
- 2.
Professor Shin Jung-hyu’s case ignited, for the first in Korean society, a deep and sustained argument over sexual harassment, which lasted from the beginning of the suit against him until final judgment by Korea’s Supreme Court (1993–1997). The Supreme Court overturned the high court’s decision and ultimately acknowledged that Professor Shin had engaged in sexual harassment, finding that Shin’s employer, Seoul National University, was not legally responsible for his actions.
- 3.
The Act on the Prohibition of Age Discrimination in Employment and Elderly Employment Promotion (APADE) was enacted on 21 March in 2008 by just adding some provisions in chapter one of the Act on the Elderly Employment Promotion and renaming it.
- 4.
The Roh Moo-hyun administration included inequality reduction among its “Ten Great National Tasks,” establishing the Poverty Disparity and Discrimination Rectification Committee as a presidential agency. This Committee quickly pointed to what it saw as the five leading types of discrimination in Korea: that based on sex, disability, academic clique, immigration status (i.e., foreign workers), and form of employment (irregular workers). Age discrimination was added subsequently. Two bills to establish an Antidiscrimination law were submitted during President Roh’s term, yet never fully addressed due to the termination of the National Assembly session. One of the bills was proposed by the Labor Party lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan. The other was submitted by the government, which based its bill on recommendations from NHRCK.
- 5.
NHRCK resolution on the case of KTX employment discrimination against female attendants, 2006.9.11 Ja 06 Jin-Cha 116, 06 Jin-Cha 136 (the joinder) resolution.
- 6.
Constitutional Court 1999.12.23. pronouncement, 98 HunMa 363. (The decision on the extra-point policy for discharged soldiers in the recruitment examination of public officials).
- 7.
Article 2, Section 3 of NHRCA refers to the definition of discrimination as follows: The term “discriminatory act violating the equal right” means any of the following acts, without reasonable grounds, on the grounds of sex, religion, disability, age, social status, region of origin (referring to a place of birth, permanent domicile, principal area of residence before the full adult age, etc.), state of origin, ethnic origin, physical condition such as features, marital status such as single, separated, divorced, widowed, remarried, married de facto, or whether pregnant or having given birth, types or forms of family, race, skin color, ideology or political opinion, record of crime whose effect of punishment has been extinguished, sexual orientation, academic career, medical history, etc.
- 8.
The jurisdictions of constitutional court addresses not only adjudication on constitutionality of statutes, impeachment, competence dispute, and dissolution of political party, but also constitutional complaint. Every Korean citizen can bring a constitutional complaint to the Constitutional Court when he/she finds his/her equality right under Article 11 of the Constitution is violated.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ahn, J. (2018). Republic of Korea. In: Mercat-Bruns, M., Oppenheimer, D., Sartorius, C. (eds) Comparative Perspectives on the Enforcement and Effectiveness of Antidiscrimination Law. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 28. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90068-1_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90068-1_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90067-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90068-1
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)