[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Human Rights Commission announced on the 9th that the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have partially accepted recommendations to improve policies and systems for enhancing the human rights of female sports instructors. Previously, the Human Rights Commission conducted a "Survey on the Human Rights Situation of Female Professional Athletes" following the short track Me Too incident, confirming that female instructors were experiencing discrimination and human rights violations. In December last year, the Commission recommended the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korea Sports Council, and the Korea Paralympic Committee to prepare improvement measures.
According to the Human Rights Commission, the Ministry of Education announced plans to review the entire appointment process of school sports team instructors and address any issues. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism responded that it would support the capacity building of female sports instructors in cooperation with the Korea Sports Council and sports federations, and explore ways to expand their recruitment. Additionally, the Ministry conveyed plans to expand education on preventing human rights violations and strengthen the effectiveness of systems for preventing workplace harassment and protecting maternity rights.
The Korea Sports Council stated that it has established and revised related internal regulations such as the "National Team Selection and Operation Regulations" to promote gender-equal recruitment, and set disciplinary standards for workplace harassment through regulations like the "Sports Fairness Committee Regulations." The Korea Paralympic Committee responded that it has revised internal regulations such as the "Human Rights Management Operation Guidelines" and plans to clarify disciplinary standards by revising the "Legislation and Sanctions Committee Operation Regulations" by October this year.
However, the Human Rights Commission explained that neither the Ministry of Education nor the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism presented specific measures regarding the recommendation to improve selection criteria, including awarding additional points for hiring female instructors. Furthermore, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism took a passive stance on the recommendation to operate training programs for female sports instructors by sport. The Commission stated, "We welcome the efforts of the recommended institutions to enhance the human rights of female sports instructors," but also "repeatedly urge the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to establish and implement concrete action plans for training female sports instructors and improving selection criteria in the future."
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