Business and Human Rights in the Republic of Korea and Extraterritorial Jurisdiction

Seunghyun Nam and Changrok Soh | 8 May 2019

The National Human Rights Commission in the Republic of Korea recommended that the Korean government adopt a new National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights as part of its efforts to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in Korea on July 2016.[1] As a result, on August 9, 2018, the government adopted a chapter on business and human rights in its Human Rights National Action Plan, which focuses broadly on the state’s obligation to protect, the enterprise’s responsibility to respect, and access to remedy on business and human rights.[2] More specifically, the Korean government is provided with the task of institutionalizing human rights management and enhancing the effectiveness of grievance mechanisms.[3] With regard to human rights management, one of the elements requires the government to prevent human rights abuses of local workers with regard to Korean companies operating overseas by establishing cooperation systems with relevant and foreign institutions, opening local briefing sessions on labor management for Korean companies going overseas, and publishing relevant data on labor management for all the countries in which it operates.[4] Such efforts are in align with recommendations provided by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights when they conducted a country visit to Korea in May 2016 which stated that “more attention needs to be given to how South Korean companies exercise human rights due diligence to avoid causing human rights harm outside South Korea.” [5] As such, the Korean government is making efforts to ensure that human rights management does not focus merely on companies operating in Korea but also abroad.…