South Korea's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has ruled that restricting fishing cooperative membership on the grounds that an applicant is not a descendant of indigenous residents constitutes discrimination.
The NHRC said Wednesday it recommended the head of the fishing cooperative revise its operating rules to allow membership for those who meet other eligibility requirements, even if they are not descendants of indigenous residents. According to the NHRC, the recommendation was issued on January 5.
The complainant moved to an island community in 2018 and has resided there since, but was denied membership in the local fishing cooperative. The cooperative's charter limits membership to "descendants of those whose forebears put down roots on the island and have lived there for generations." The complainant filed a complaint with the NHRC in March last year, arguing the rejection constituted unfair discrimination based on place of origin.
The fishing cooperative responded that as an organization managing and operating communal assets such as village fishing rights, it needs to be selective about its members. It also explained that "even descendants of indigenous residents are not granted membership if they fail to meet other requirements." The island faces severe population aging, and while the cooperative moved to ease membership requirements in December 2024, the effort was suspended due to a deteriorating relationship with the complainant.
The NHRC determined that fishing cooperatives effectively exercise a monopoly over village fishing rights, which are strongly public in nature. The commission also cited the fact that the cooperatives use and manage public waters — a nationally shared resource — as grounds for their public character.
"Excluding residents from other regions solely because they are not descendants of indigenous residents is difficult to regard as consistent with public interest and fairness," the NHRC said. The commission emphasized that "stable operation of fishing cooperatives is possible through objective criteria such as actual residency, degree of participation in fishing activities, and contribution to the community."
