Special human rights charter of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon

Seoul City plans to announce a Seoul citizen human rights charter celebrating Human Rights Day on Dec. 10. The charter has been provoking a controversy as it reportedly contains an article to ban discrimination against homosexuality. Regardless of the controversy, it is curious as to why the city makes such charter in the first place. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon had been known as human rights lawyer. It leaves an inevitable question of whether Park lays foundation for presidential election by utilizing image of a human rights advocate as his trademark, as the former President Lee Myung-bak had won the hearts of the public by Cheonggye stream construction in his specialty area of civil engineering during his term as Seoul city mayor.

U.N. has the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and European countries have the EU`s Charter of Fundamental Rights. Both were made by organizations bigger than a country. The UDHR is an international law that Korea has already joined, and the declaration has the same effect as domestic laws. Individual region or a nation may be able to proclaim a human rights declaration that contains more detailed contents. The EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights is in this category. However, it doesn’t seem suit for a local autonomous entity to announce a human rights charter, overtaking a nation.

Park had been at the forefront to advocate human rights of political victims during the days under military dictatorship. After democratization in Korea, Park had paid attention on human rights protection for social outcasts and minorities. Regarding homosexuality, Park has made great support for homosexuality advocacy groups such as "Between Friends" while running the Beautiful Foundation. In a recent interview with "Examiner," a local newspaper in San Francisco, during his visit to the U.S., Park said, “I hope Korea becomes the first Asian nation to legalize the same sex marriage.” The remarks were made in the same vein as his past stance.

However, Park has never said anything about human rights issues in North Korea. There are a lot to do for human rights in Korea. But it becomes nothing when compared to the dire human rights situation of North Koreans. There is a Korean saying that "people would ~ as much as one ~." Human rights of Seoul citizens are improving gradually in line with the entire human rights advancement across the nation, even without the mayor`s intervention. If he pays attention to human rights of North Koreans as much as he does for newly-found human rights of Seoul citizens such as homosexuality, more people would support Park’s human rights activities.