The National Assembly Research Service (NARS) held a seminar titled “Current Status and Prospects of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea” on December 31, 2025, at Conference Room 1 of the National Assembly Members’ Office Building.

The seminar was co-hosted by 18 National Assembly members, including Rep. Seo Mi-hwa of the Democratic Party of Korea and Rep. Shin Jang-sik of the Rebuilding Korea Party. Woo Won-shik, Speaker of the National Assembly, attended and delivered congratulatory remarks.

The seminar was organized to review the role and status of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea as the last bastion of human rights, and to diagnose recently raised issues related to its composition and operations. The participants recognized the issues facing the National Human Rights Commission as challenges that the entire Korean society must consider together, rather than at the level of an individual institution, and explored directions for institutional improvement.

Presentations were delivered by former Standing Commissioner Nam Gyu-sun and attorney Kim Dong-hyun of Korean Lawyers for Public Interest and Human Rights “Hope and Law”.
In a written presentation titled “The Current Status of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea: Issues in Its Recent Operations,” former Commissioner Nam emphasized that the Commission has protected the rights of the socially vulnerable and minorities for the past two decades, and highlighted the need for institutional reform to sustain its functions. Specifically, she proposed the introduction of the National Assembly's right to impeach the chairperson, the establishment of a National Assembly consent procedure for the appointment of the chairperson, and the implementation of National Assembly confirmation hearings during the appointment process of committee members.

Attorney Kim Dong-hyun, in his presentation titled “Legislative Proposals for the Normalization of the National Human Rights Commission,” diagnosed that the current crisis stems from accumulated structural and institutional limitations. He suggested legal and institutional reforms reflecting civil society discussions, including the establishment of human rights protection provisions in states of national emergency, expansion of the scope of petitions to the Commission, and the creation of a National Institute for Human Rights.

The subsequent panel discussion was moderated by Prof. Lee Kyung-joo of Inha University, with participation from attorney Kim Soo-jung (former Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea), attorney Park Han-hee (Coalition for Reforming the National Human Rights Commission), Prof. Lee Joo-young (member of the UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights), and Jung Jae-ha, Legislative Research Officer at NARS.
The panelists reviewed the structural and operational improvements needed for the National Human Rights Commission of Korea to fully fulfill its original mandate and exchanged views on future directions for the Commission.

Lee Kwan-hu, Chief of the NARS, stated, “I hope this seminar will serve as a starting point for forward-looking discussions on how to further strengthen the human rights protection system of our society, going beyond the normalization of the National Human Rights Commission.”