The Human Rights Commission released the full text of the ‘Yunseok Train’ decision in two months

On the 14th, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea released a decision containing the opinion that “freedom of political expression should not be excessively restricted” in relation to the ‘Yunseok Train’ case. The Human Rights Commission’s decision came out on April 24, but it was only after more than two months that the full text of the decision was released. The Democratic Party of Korea plans to hold a press conference on the 17th and urge the Human Rights Commission to self-examine itself.

In July of last year, a high school student won a gold prize at the National Student Comics Contest with his cartoon ‘Yoon Seok-yeol’, a satire on President Yoon Seok-yeol. This work was exhibited at the Bucheon International Comics Festival. In response, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued a ‘stern warning’, saying that the Korea Comics Promotion Agency had selected and exhibited works with political themes. Members of the Democratic Party of Korea who are members of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee of the National Assembly filed a complaint to the Human Rights Commission, saying it was an “infringement on freedom of expression.” The Human Rights Commission dismissed the complaint in April, but expressed its opinion to guarantee freedom of expression to the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the head of the Korea Manhwa Promotion Agency. The decision was not made public at the time.

Recently, the Human Rights Commission released the full text of its decision. This is because the review of the decision has now been completed. In its decision, the Human Rights Commission said that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s press and explanatory materials stating that it would ‘take measures related to Yun Seok-yeol’s work’ were distributed in October of last year, after the work was announced. said In addition, he said that he could not admit the possibility that the personality rights of high school students were violated through press reports and explanatory materials of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The Human Rights Commission, through its opinion, said that it was not justified from the viewpoint of freedom of art for the Korea Cartoon Image Promotion Agency to include ‘political intention’ in the grounds for disqualification of the contest guidelines in future contests. The Human Rights Commission said, “Excluding all political views from the subject matter of student cartoons is not justified in terms of artistic freedom, which also seeks to protect political expression as a means of art.” In the case of a decision, it is necessary to clearly define it so that individuals who wish to participate in the contest can know ‘what constitutes disqualification’.”

In addition, the Human Rights Commission said, “If freedom of expression is regulated by unclear regulations, there is a risk of excessive regulation, including expression that should be protected under the constitution, by enabling arbitrary enforcement by the executive body.” He said that when deciding whether to approve the use of a name, it should be corrected if disqualifications that may violate basic rights such as freedom of expression are included.

In this regard, Hong Ik-pyo, the chairman of the Culture and Sports Committee of the National Assembly, and members of the Democratic Party of the Culture and Sports Committee will hold a press conference on the 17th and express their regret to the Human Rights Commission. In their statement, they said, “We made a decision that was too passive to be called a Human Rights Commission decision. I would like to ask whether the Human Rights Commission, the last bastion of human rights, wanted to avoid making a judgment on the merits in the eyes of the current government,” he said. did.

The Korea Cartoon Image Promotion Agency gave up its application for sponsorship from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for the National Student Cartoon Contest this year. Members of the Democratic Party’s culture committee said, “The status of the contest, which has been recognized for its public confidence, should not be damaged by state institutions. The Republic of Korea is a free democratic country, and freedom of expression is the foundation of free democracy.” He said, “In addition to the Yoon Seok Train incident, cases of censorship and freedom of expression violations are occurring in various places in the art field. If the freedom of expression of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration is not a selective freedom of expression that is allowed only to our side, right then and wrong now, freedom of expression should not be violated anymore,” he emphasized.