[In-Depth Look] The Work of a Public Interest Lawyer

While researching climate change and human rights, I conducted in-depth interviews with postal workers. They shared stories about frequently encountering sudden heavy rain while delivering by motorcycle, which causes their mail to get wet during even a brief delivery trip, creating difficulties. They also recounted how, while working wearing masks, the moment they took them off briefly to eat, sweat poured down like a waterfall. When asked if they knew why delivery workers collapse on staircases rather than under direct sunlight during heatwaves, they hesitated, then explained that in order to complete all assigned deliveries and mail in a day, they ride their motorcycles frantically in the heat, and sometimes experience dizziness the moment they stop briefly at a doorstep.

While people who bring cool ice water when workers are thirsty from the heat are precious, there also need to be meteorological experts researching climate change, professionals developing appropriate technologies, and people analyzing the lives of vulnerable populations and considering institutional improvements.

The interviews with postal workers did not end with just hearing and empathizing with their hardships. Although there is a system in place to allow work stoppage during heatwaves, the service counters do not actually stop accepting requests. Because if they stop today, they have to deliver twice as much tomorrow, almost no postal worker exercises the right to stop work. We discussed the need for realistic criteria and measures for suspending acceptance so that the right to stop work can be practically exercised, as well as the need for guidelines and manuals. On the way back after the interviews, we also talked about conducting research on the physical changes experienced by those who suffer particularly from climate change, such as postal and delivery workers. Current research is difficult, but the voices aiming to start new initiatives are lively again.

This is not limited to climate change. Next month, we face the final trial of a lawsuit that has been ongoing for over five years, demanding that theaters create systems to make movies accessible to people with visual and hearing impairments. We are also preparing a new lawsuit to amend the Public Official Election Act so that people with developmental disabilities can participate in elections. My colleagues speak at press conferences insisting that local people who worked for the Korean military in Afghanistan should not be neglected, while others meet youth on the streets every Friday night to counsel them and research how to guarantee housing rights for homeless youth. Recently, we have also been very interested in corporate human rights management. The ESG trend is in full swing, but someone must play the meaningful role of monitoring corporations from a human rights perspective and providing appropriate feedback.

We are public interest lawyers. As public interest lawyers, we have probably been asked at least once, "What kind of people are public interest lawyers, and what do they do?"

Although there are no official statistics, there are about 120 colleagues around me who identify and unite as public interest lawyers. We struggle with a sense of mission and responsibility, but public interest lawyers are still unfamiliar even by name. Even among public interest lawyers, the meaning and scope of "public interest" likely vary. Each has different areas of activity, strengths, and characteristics. However, at minimum, the commonality I see among public interest lawyers is a strong interest in the lives of social minorities, a belief that guaranteeing their human rights aligns with the public interest, and a commitment not to stop at one-time support but to change systems and society. Going forward, I plan to share and introduce the roles and concerns of public interest lawyers through this platform together with my colleagues. Please support and advise so that public interest lawyers can fulfill their essential roles in our society.

Lee Joo-eon, Lawyer at the nonprofit organization Duru