"Amnesty notes ‘erosion’ of freedom of expression in Korea in annual human rights report," 25 April 2024

Amnesty International noted the continuous “erosion of rights to freedom of expression” in South Korea in its annual human rights report, released Wednesday.

...Amnesty International picked freedom of expression, workers’ rights, and the right to a healthy environment as factors of major concern in the country. 

“The erosion of rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly continued against a backdrop of a government clampdown on ‘illegal’ protests,” the report noted, mentioning transport company Seoul Metro’s suit against the disability advocacy group Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination in January 2023, in which Seoul Metro claimed 600 million won (US$4359,00) in damages.

The report also mentioned how “harassment of labour activists intensified in the context of President Yoon [Suk-yeol]’s anti-union rhetoric,” while referencing Korean Construction Workers Union executive Yang Hoe-dong’s self-immolation. Yang protested the government’s heavy-handed investigations into construction labor unions, which the government likened to “thugs,” by setting himself on fire outside of the Gangneung branch of the Chuncheon District Court on May Day of 2023. Police then forcibly tore down the public memorial space installed to commemorate Yang and raided the KCWU’s office.

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