“Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world...”

So begins the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which today is 60 years old. It was adopted by the United Nations as the organization reflected on the painful experience of human history and recognized human rights to be a universal human value, the concept of human rights having been the result of the struggle of those oppressed and persecuted.

Despite an incomplete start because of abstentions by Communist countries, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has taken its place as a central text in contemporary human rights and it has been a guide to those who have struggled for the preservation and expansion of human rights amidst many difficulties. Our Constitution reflects the spirit of the declaration in its recognition of the dignity of the citizenry as human beings and in its affirmation of the basic inviolable civil rights of all individuals that, as such, the state is obligated to guarantee.

The reality in Korea on the occasion of the Declaration’s 60th anniversary, however, is distressful. Since the emergence of the Lee Myung-bak administration there has been an effort to reverse the accomplishments in human rights for which so many gave blood and tears, and even their lives. The administration’s offensive against human rights began with the move to take the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, established during the previous administration as an independent state organization, and put it under the Office of the President. As shown during the “candlelight protests,” the freedom of protest and assembly has been trampled on, and the freedom of the press is facing a serious challenge, as seen in the YTN affair, in which large numbers of media workers were laid off.

This was not enough for the Lee administration, however, and so it is trying to constrain the freedom of expression, too, with the creation of a “Secrecy Protection Act” and “Cyber Insult Act.” The cries of the irregular workers fighting for survival and the migrant workers struggling with their lives is producing no response, while the rights of children have been abandoned to a system of never-ending competition. Rights are being pushed back enough for Amnesty International and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to express concern about the human rights situation in Korea.

Is this what the “advanced Korea” the administration has been talking about looks like? It must stop this attempt to pass legislation suppressing human rights immediately and work to guarantee the basic rights outlined in the Korean Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Especially considering that the country is facing an unprecedented economic crisis, it should think of guaranteeing the Constitution’s “right to survive” as one of its main duties and give it the greatest priority.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]