HRW.org
Re-Introduce Comprehensive Language Into Non-Discrimination Legislation
New York – The South Korean cabinet should re-introduce categories protected from discrimination that the justice ministry this week dropped from a proposed federal law, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the cabinet. In particular, Human Rights Watch highlighted language the Ministry of Justice withdrew from the non-discrimination bill that extended protection to sexual orientation and urged the cabinet to make explicit that the proposed law covers discrimination based on gender identity.
The draft legislation, Announcement No. 2007-106, was announced on October 2, 2007, by the Ministry of Justice. It included sexual orientation along with a range of other categories as prohibited grounds of discrimination. According to Democratic Labor Party officials and news reports, the current version of the law excludes protection from discrimination on the basis of military status, nationality, language, appearance, family type, ideology, criminal or detention record, sexual orientation, and educational status (Christian Today 11/2/07).