BANGKOK, Thailand (16 June 2025) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) calls on newly elected South Korean President Lee Jae-myung to restore peace, democracy, and gender justice in the country.
On 3 June 2025, South Korea held a snap presidential election, resulting in a landslide victory for opposition leader Lee Jae-myung from the Democratic Party of Korea. The snap election came after the impeachment of former president Yoon Suk Yeol over his illegal declaration of martial law in December 2024.
“The South Korean people have continuously shown vigorous resistance against any form of military dictatorship and unjust oppression. The newly elected government must therefore heed the people’s call to protect and uphold democracy, human rights, and the rule of law at all times,” said Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.
Looming charges
According to the National Election Commission, voter turnout was close to 80 percent, marking the highest turnout since South Korea’s 1997 election.
Following Yoon’s martial law declaration, Lee was among those who bravely pushed past military barricades in the National Assembly building. Lee joined the parliament’s emergency vote to end Yoon’s martial law order. At that time, Lee urged citizens to protest against the martial law order.
In his first inaugural address, Lee pledged to turn South Korea into a truly democratic republic, emphasizing the need to prevent any recurrence of an arms-based insurrection and to hold its instigators accountable.
The election provided a semblance of democratic restoration following months of political disarray. Lee, however, currently faces five different criminal charges involving alleged corruption, election law violations from his 2022 presidential campaign, the misuse of public funds, and subordination of perjury. Lee has denied all charges, arguing that such accusations are merely politically motivated.
According to Article 84 of South Korea’s Constitution, a sitting president cannot be subjected to criminal prosecution while in office. On 9 June, a hearing for Lee’s election law violation case was postponed as the Supreme Court is yet to determine whether Article 84 should be applied to a criminal defendant who has been elected as president.
Meanwhile, the ruling Democratic Party is reportedly pushing for a bill that would suspend ongoing trials involving a serving president.
Gender-based discrimination
Notably missing in Lee’s election manifesto is the commitment to address the country’s systemic gender-based discrimination. The same can be said for other South Korean candidates.
Lee did not emphasize any specific measures for addressing cases of sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based discrimination. Likewise, he did not clarify allegations of anti-feminist sentiments from the previous election, including past sexual harassment scandals surrounding the Democratic Party.
During his 2022 presidential bid, Lee commented against a proposed anti-discrimination law, which included LGBTQIA+ rights protection. Lee noted that such a law would require a majority consensus within South Korean society.
“The commitment to realize and protect democracy cannot be fully achieved without addressing the underlying problems of gender-based discrimination. Gender-based discrimination prevents a person from fully accessing and enjoying their fundamental rights and freedoms. Although gender-based discrimination affects everyone, the reality is that its impacts are disproportionately felt by women, girls, and LGBTQIA+ individuals,” said Bacalso.
An independent national human rights institution
Civil society welcomes President Lee’s commitment to reform the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) as part of his pledge to restore democracy.
As a national human rights institution, the NHRCK is in charge of promoting and protecting human rights by initiating advocacy, conducting investigations, and providing recommendations to the government.
The NHRCK’s flailing independence and effectiveness have long been criticized by civil society. The NHRCK has reportedly mistreated human rights defenders, discriminated against the LGBTQIA+ community, and retaliated against NHRCK staff who disagree with the leadership’s decisions. NHRCK’s disappointing track record on gender based-discrimination continued as it snubbed the 26th annual Seoul Queer Culture Festival held on 14 June, breaking its eight-year streak of consecutive participation since 2017.
In December 2024, a majority of NHRCK Commissioners opposed a proposal to investigate human rights violations committed during Yoon’s martial law declaration. The NHRCK Commissioners’ continued defense of former President Yoon–despite his martial law order–only further jeopardized the Commission’s credibility.
The Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI)–alongside Korean civil society–has long called for such an investigation. The NHRCK’s reluctance reflects its inability to maintain its independence and unwillingness to serve its mandate.
In April 2025, the Global Alliance of NHRIs’ Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) initiated a special review of the NHRCK following numerous complaints by civil society. The SCA issued the NHRCK with a list of questions, covering key issues such as investigations into alleged human rights violations, mistreatment of defenders and staff, discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community, and its response to the Martial Law declaration.
In June, the NHRCK clapped back against the SCA, arguing that it is effectively performing its mandate. The NHRCK also maintained its controversial recommendation to guarantee the former president’s right to defend himself during his impeachment trial. South Korean media and civil society, however, accused the NHRCK of using misleading statistics and false claims about its performance.
Call to action
As South Korea is actively navigating its way back to stability, FORUM-ASIA calls on the new administration to learn from past mistakes and to serve as an example to other Asian governments in promoting and protecting human rights for all.
We call on the government to prioritize the needs of its citizens over any political interests.
Without gender justice and equality, there can be no democracy. The elimination of gender-based discrimination should be among the new administration’s top priorities.
FORUM-ASIA echoes civil society’s demands to restore the credibility, independence, and effectiveness of the NHRCK by urging President Lee to call for the resignation of the Commission’s current leadership.
The persistent failures of the NHRCK Chairperson and Commissioners have resulted in poor public trust. To actualize meaningful reforms within the NHRCK, a complete overhaul might be necessary.
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The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is a network of 90 member organisations across 23 countries, mainly in Asia. Founded in 1991, FORUM-ASIA works to strengthen movements for human rights and sustainable development through research, advocacy, capacity development and solidarity actions in Asia and beyond. It has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and consultative relationship with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. The FORUM-ASIA Secretariat is based in Bangkok, with offices in Jakarta, Geneva and Kathmandu. www.forum-asia.org
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