Two Korean experts elected chairs of UN rights bodies
Published: 04 Mar. 2025, 18:23
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- SARAH KIM
- [email protected]
![Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, center, meets with Soh Chang-rok, a member of the UN Human Rights Committee on monitoring the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Kim Mi-yeon, a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, on May 8, 2024. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/03/04/1b7447fb-c075-4b66-b93d-93e0af55b7c3.jpg)
Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, center, meets with Soh Chang-rok, a member of the UN Human Rights Committee on monitoring the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Kim Mi-yeon, a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, on May 8, 2024. [YONHAP]
Soh Chang-rok, a professor at the graduate school of international studies at Korea University, will serve as the chair of the UN Human Rights Committee on monitoring the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). He will serve a two-year term through 2027.
Soh, known for his years of expertise in human rights, is currently serving a four-year term on the ICCPR committee that lasts from 2025-28.
Kim Mi-yeon, a re-elected member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, will serve as its chair for a two-year term, with a possible extension.
Kim also has extensive experience as an expert on women's and disability issues.
Their elections mark the first time in 18 years that a Korean has been chosen to lead a UN human rights treaty body. The previous case was the election of Lee Yang-hee as chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in May 2007.
“The expertise and contributions of the two newly elected chairs, alongside South Korea's role as a member of the UN Human Rights Council for 2025-27, are expected to significantly enhance the country's global standing in the field of human rights protection and promotion,” the ministry said in a release.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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