The fallout from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea's (NHRCK) recommendation last year to guarantee former President Yoon Suk-yeol's defense rights has spread to the point of halting the commission's standing committee. As conflict between progressive and conservative commissioners over whether to scrap the recommendation continued, and as demands from all departments of the secretariat for the chairman's resignation followed, internal conflict at the commission appears to have reached its peak.
According to reporting compiled by Seoul Economic Daily on the 17th, NHRCK Chairman Ahn Chang-ho reaffirmed his existing position at the 24th standing committee meeting held the previous day that he would not table the agenda item titled "Scrapping the Recommendation to Guarantee Former President Yoon Suk-yeol's Defense Rights and Issuing a Public Apology." In response, Standing Commissioner Oh Young-keun protested, calling it "a serious illegal act that infringes on commissioners' rights to deliberate and vote," and left the meeting room, with some other standing commissioners walking out one after another. In the end, the standing committee failed to process its scheduled agenda.
The starting point of this conflict is the "Guarantee of Former President Yoon Suk-yeol's Defense Rights" recommendation that the commission passed in February last year. At the time, amid the impeachment trial of former President Yoon and criminal trials related to the martial law following the Dec. 3 emergency martial law, the commission passed the agenda item "Recommendation and Expression of Opinion on Measures to Prevent Human Rights Violations Related to the National Crisis Caused by the Declaration of Martial Law" by a vote of six in favor to four against.
The recommendation included content stating that strict evidence review and due process equivalent to criminal proceedings should be guaranteed in former President Yoon's impeachment trial, and that the principle of trial without detention should be borne in mind in martial law-related criminal trials. The decision at the time also included judgments to the effect that "after the declaration of martial law, troops were deployed to the National Assembly and the National Election Commission, but 190 lawmakers entered the National Assembly and passed a resolution demanding the lifting of the emergency martial law," and that "there was no use of firearms or arrests and detentions." Criticism was raised over this, that the commission had reflected the logic of former President Yoon's side.
Immediately after the recommendation was passed, commissioners split into progressive and conservative camps and clashed head-on. Progressive-leaning commissioners criticized the recommendation as defending former President Yoon, who faces insurrection charges, and as undermining the commission's political neutrality and independence. Conservative-leaning commissioners, on the other hand, argued that due process and defense rights should be guaranteed regardless of political stance. The conflict over the recommendation has since continued for more than a year.
The internal backlash spread to the entire organization this year. Last month, six director-level officials, including Kim Jae-seok, chief of the Military Human Rights Protection Division, successively expressed their intention to relinquish their posts, publicly raising questions about Chairman Ahn's leadership. Kim posted on the internal bulletin board, "I do not wish to hold a post and work under the current leadership system, including Chairman Ahn, Secretary General Lee Seok-jun, and senior officials," adding that he was "relinquishing his division chief post."
The backlash from director-level officials soon spread to the entire secretariat. Starting with the Planning and Finance Officer's Office on the 8th of this month, relay statements followed department by department, and with the Human Rights Education Operations Division joining on the 15th, all 30 departments under the secretariat called for Chairman Ahn's resignation.
Progressive-leaning commissioners, arguing that the recommendation should be reviewed from scratch, jointly proposed the agenda item "Scrapping the Recommendation to Guarantee Former President Yoon Suk-yeol's Defense Rights and Issuing a Public Apology" on the 10th of this month. The agenda item included content calling for the recommendation to be scrapped and for the commission that passed it to issue a formal apology to the public.
Chairman Ahn approved the receipt of the agenda item ahead of the 13th plenary committee meeting on the 13th of this month, but ultimately refused to table it at the meeting. Ahn said, "I do not understand how it can be considered wrong to have called for due process to be observed in the trials and investigations of former President Yoon and others," and added, "Considering the gravity and legality of the matter, I will not table it at this meeting."
At the 24th standing committee meeting held three days later, the clash over the motion to scrap the recommendation continued. Standing Commissioner Oh Young-keun criticized Ahn's failure to table the agenda item at the plenary committee, calling it "a serious illegal act that fundamentally infringes on commissioners' rights to deliberate and vote," and then left the meeting room, saying, "I feel severe humiliation and anger."
In response, Ahn said, "Scrapping a plenary committee decision that was passed through legitimate procedures is a matter for which it is difficult to find precedent," adding, "Legal review is needed on whether a commission decision that has already taken legal effect can be changed or scrapped again by a vote." He continued, "I will table the agenda item at a later date after sufficient review," and said, "Whatever decision is reached, I will explain my opinion in detail."
