2020 대한민국 인권의 지평

Human Rights in Korea : A Landscape of 2020

This essay is a wide-scope observation on the human rights issues in Korea as of 2020. To feature a panoramic view of the landscape, the author combines academic theories with relevant field reports. He opens the paper by citing Bartleby, the Scrivener(by Herman Melville), to put the perception of alienation as the prime cause of human rights problems in a global capitalistic society like Korea. On the level of constitutional value, harmonic balance between liberty and equality are emphasized. Considering that Korea has subatantially established herself as a free and democratic society, the author argues that, from now on, Economic and Social Rights should be more jeolously promoted. The author emphasizes ,in that line, that government policies and judiciary dicisions should be more geared toward futuristic approaches on evolving standards. Ideological battles between the two Koreas that haunted their people for the last 70 years can be ameliorated only by making (South) Korea a more egalitarian society. Added to various existing categories of underprivileged classes, new immigrants may be singled out as the category worthy of attention. Protecting and promoting the rights of their rights emeges as the most pivotal task in preventing danger of mass producing of the second-class citizens in Korea, which has taken an irrevocable, rapid journey toward a multi-cultural society. Throughout the entire paper, the author cites many classical literary works dealing with pertinent human rights issues. A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens) Animal Farm(George Orwell) and La Peste (Albert Camus) are some examples. As a closing passage, the author emphasizes that the juristic inertia limiting human rights discourses within pure legal framework should readily be abandoned.