South Korea 's three major political parties have an opportunity to present their views on key human rights issues prior to the presidential elections scheduled for June 3, 2025, Human Rights Watch said today. To ensure that human rights receive the attention they deserve, Human Rights Watch sent a questionnaire to the Democratic Party of Korea, the People Power Party, and the New Reform Party on May 12, and will publish the responses received by May 20.
"The December 2024 martial law declaration exposed how quickly and easily hard-won rights and freedoms can be put at risk," said Lina Yoon, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Human Rights Watch's questionnaire gives the presidential candidates an opportunity to share with the public their positions on the major human rights issues facing South Korea and their proposed reforms."
The goal of the questionnaire is to encourage the three campaigns to provide South Korean voters with their views on human rights. The questionnaire consists of 16 questions on a range of human rights issues, including emergency powers and democratic safeguards; freedom of expression; discrimination against women, children, older people, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people; digital rights and online safety; environmental rights; the death penalty; and human rights policy toward North Korea.
"We hope that the political parties will carefully explain their human rights positions and policies to assist South Korean voters in making their choices for the next president," Yoon said.
