Human Rights Commission decides to apologize to the public for recommending guaranteeing the right to defense at the time of impeachment (Comprehensive 2nd report)

Passed with a 6 to 4 majority vote... Chairman Ahn Chang-ho did not participate in the vote and abstained.

Ahn "I'm not advocating martial law... As chairman, I decided not to give an opinion for the sake of stabilizing the organization."

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Yang Soo-yeon = The National Human Rights Commission decided to scrap the recommendation to 'guarantee Yoon Seok-yeol's right to defense', which was decided during the impeachment phase of former President Yoon Seok-yeol, and issue a 'public apology'.

It has been 1 year and 8 months since the bill was passed on February 10 last year with 6 people in favor and 4 against, causing strong controversy and backlash both inside and outside the Human Rights Commission.

At the 17th plenary committee held this afternoon, the Human Rights Commission submitted and decided to revise and revise the 'Abolition of the plenary committee resolution dated February 10, 2025 and resolution to apologize to the public.'

The part calling for the abolition of past resolutions was excluded from the final bill, and only the clause calling for reflection on past resolutions and an apology in the name of the organization was passed.

Six people, including standing members Lee Sook-jin and Oh Young-geun, and non-standing members So Ra-mi, Oh Wan-ho, Jo Sook-hyeon, and Kim Min-moon-jung, voted in favor, while four people, including standing members Kim Hak-ja, Kang Jeong-hye, Han Seok-hoon, and Kim Yong-jik, voted against.

Chairman Ahn Chang-ho did not participate in the vote and abstained. Chairman Ahn was appointed by former President Yoon Seok-yeol.

As the agenda is passed today, the Human Rights Commission plans to write a final decision that includes the positions of members who expressed opposing opinions.

Committee members who agreed to the agenda on this day held a back briefing after the meeting and said, "We plan to write a separate apology, and I think it will be a very important issue who will announce the apology."

However, Chairman Ahn told Yonhap News, “We are not considering a separate apology other than the decision.”

So far, criticism has continued from inside and outside the Human Rights Commission regarding the resolution of the 'Recommendation to Guarantee the Right to Defense of Yoon Seok-yeol', saying, "The Human Rights Commission defended former President Yoon Seok-yeol and martial law."

At the meeting that day, Standing Committee member Lee Sook-jin said, “The Human Rights Commission was criticized internally for having suffered damage to its pride as a human rights defender, and externally for being a ‘committee for the defense of civil war.’”

At the same time, regarding the agenda tabled on this day, he explained, "This is to confirm that the resolution at the time did not comply with the original responsibilities of the National Human Rights Organization and to form a new institutional intention to no longer maintain this as the official position of the National Human Rights Commission."

Non-standing member Sorami pointed out that the past decision contained only the views of those opposing the impeachment, saying, “Even if it only talks about the law, it cannot avoid the assessment that it is politically biased because it does not contain any arguments from the other side, and that it actually contains the logic to defend Yoon Seok-yeol.”

On the other hand, non-standing members Han Seok-hoon and Kang Jeong-hye refuted that last year's recommendation was a universal recommendation to guarantee due process in the impeachment trial, and that the proposal to overturn it was political.

Regarding the lack of approval from President Lee Jae-myung for promotions to levels 3 to 5 of the Human Rights Commission, non-standing member Han Seok-hoon added, "I would like to ask whether President Lee and other politicians who take issue with the decisions of the Human Rights Commission and delay the appointment of employees are infringing on the independence of the Human Rights Commission."

Non-standing member Kim Yong-jik, who opposed last year's resolution of the agenda but also cannot agree to today's agenda, said, "It is a completely different problem for the current committee to give past resolutions the criminal meaning of protecting a civil war and apologize in the name of an institution. Apologizing in the name of an institution undermines the principle of self-responsibility and freedom of conscience under the Constitution."

After two hours of heated debate, Chairman Ahn Chang-ho announced his position just before entering the voting process.

Chairman Ahn said, “The decision of the Human Rights Commission was never intended to defend martial law or represent a specific political position,” and added, “I regret that the sincerity was not conveyed properly, and I regret the misunderstanding and controversy over the true intention.”

At the same time, he said, "As chairman, I decided not to give a separate opinion on this agenda submitted by five members in order to quickly stabilize the organization so that the National Human Rights Commission can faithfully perform its role as a human rights protection agency."

Chairman Ahn began his term in September 2024 with the approval of former President Yoon Seok-yeol's appointment plan.

In civil society, continuous criticism has been raised regarding Chairman Ahn's actions, including the resolution of 'Recommendation to guarantee the right to defense of Yoon Seok-yeol', opposition to the enactment of anti-discrimination laws, and absence from the Queer Culture Festival.

Human Rights Commission employees also took active action this year.

By last July, six managers at the Human Rights Commission of Korea had declared their resignation one after another in opposition to Chairman Ahn Chang-ho's actions, and all 30 departments in the Secretariat also continued the 'relay statement' by posting messages demanding Chairman Ahn's resignation.

This afternoon, the civic group 'Joint Action to Correct the National Human Rights Commission' held a press conference in front of the Human Rights Commission and announced that it would submit a request for a public interest audit of Chairman Ahn to the Board of Audit and Inspection.

They argued that Chairman Ahn has been running the Human Rights Commission arbitrarily, and that there are circumstances in which he has given unfair instructions to employees regarding issues that do not conform to his beliefs, and that an audit is needed for dereliction of duty and abuse of power.