Human Rights Protection Officers Discuss Legalization of Human Rights Policy in Gwangju

Seeking Responses to Human Rights Violations
at the DJ Center on the 15th and 16th

Gwangju City held the "2025 National Local Government Human Rights Protection Officers Council Workshop" over two days on the 15th and 16th at the Kim Daejung Convention Center. Photo by Gwangju City

Gwangju City held the "2025 National Local Government Human Rights Protection Officers Council Workshop" over two days on the 15th and 16th at the Kim Daejung Convention Center.

This workshop was organized in Gwangju, the chair city of the Human Rights Protection Officers Council, in connection with the 45th anniversary of the 5·18 Democratization Movement and the 2025 World Human Rights Cities Forum. Human rights protection officers from local governments and city and provincial education offices across the country gathered to discuss the roles and challenges of local government human rights relief organizations.

On the first day of the workshop, participants attended the opening ceremony and plenary session of the World Human Rights Cities Forum. Afterwards, they held a "Human Rights Protection Officers Meeting" to share the current status of human rights in each region and discuss the selection of the next host city.

On the second day, a discussion session was held on the "Draft Framework Act on Human Rights Policy and Local Governments' Response Strategies." Han Sanghee, emeritus professor at Konkuk University Law School, presented on the draft framework act and local government response strategies. Participants exchanged opinions on practical institutional improvement tasks, including the direction of legalizing the human rights protection officer system, ensuring the independence of local government human rights organizations, and joint response measures to human rights violations. In particular, they agreed on the need to establish a foundation for joint action to strengthen the role of cities as human rights cities.

Jeon Jinhee, standing human rights ombudsman, stated, "This workshop will serve as a starting point for strengthening the human rights protection system of local governments and for nationwide cooperation," adding, "Gwangju will continue to fulfill its responsibility as a central city that upholds and spreads the value of human rights."