Committee on the Rights of the Child

Fifty-eighth session

19 September–7 October 2011

Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

List of issues concerning the combined third and fourth periodic reports of the Republic of Korea (CRC/C/KOR/3-4)

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional updated information , if possible before 4 July 2011 .

The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights contained in the Convention during the dialogue with the State party. The present list of issues covers only some priority questions on which the Committee would like additional information before the dialogue.

Part I

In this section, the State party is requested to submit its responses to the following questions within 30 pages.

1.Please provide the most recent activities report of the Child Policy Coordination Committee. Please briefly explain which Government body now deals with issues relating to children and promotes coordination and cooperation across ministries and civil society organizations at all levels in the country.

2.Please describe any impediments to the independence of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and its members, and outline the safeguards in place to protect their independence. Please indicate whether the Commission has the competence to receive complaints and whether it has specific expertise to deal with children’s rights. Please also briefly explain any limitations to the mandate of the Commission and the scope of geographic coverage.

3.Please provide updated data on Government budget allocations for welfare, health and education systems for children, specifying the level of expenditure per child. Additionally, please explain how any inequalities caused by the difference in the budgets of local governments for children are addressed.

4.Please provide data on the key indicators emanating from the child rights index. Please explain which agency has principal responsibility for collecting and disseminating data from the index and how such information is used in the context of child rights monitoring, policymaking and programming.

5.Please provide information on the initial results and impact of the National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights 2007–2011 in respect of children’s rights.

6.Please provide information on the progress made towards the enactment of a non-discrimination bill.

7.Please provide information on awareness-raising and public education campaigns and programmes carried out to combat discriminatory attitudes towards children, in particular owing to gender, nationality, disability, birth and appearance, and on measures to prohibit discrimination and help children victims of discrimination.

8.Please provide information on the outcome of the 2005 Five-Year Plan on the Prevention of and Countermeasure against Violence in Schools and on the concrete measures adopted to help children victim to violence.

9.Please indicate whether the State party intends to introduce legislation to abolish corporal punishment in all settings, in particular in school and alternative-care settings. Please also provide information about the pilot “green mileage” system recently introduced as an alternative to corporal punishment in school.

10.Please provide information on periodic review of care and treatment provided to children in all public and privateinstitutions providing alternative care.

11.Please provide information on: the implementation of the Act on the Protection of Juveniles from Sexual Exploitation (amended in 2005 and 2007) and the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes and Protection of Victims Thereof (amended in 2004); the prevention of child sexual abuse; and the psychosocial rehabilitation services available for sexually abused children.

12.Please provide information on the adoption and implementation of the revised bill codifying the State party’s obligation to intervene in adoption procedures, and indicate whether the State party intends to ratify the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation inrespect of Intercountry Adoption.

13.Please provide information on any studies,existing or planned,intothe root causes of suicide among children, as well as measures taken by the State party to prevent and remedy this situation.

14.Please provide information on the outcome the 2004 Measures Taken to Reduce Private Education Spending, the 2007 Plan to Reduce Dependence on Private Education and the efforts made to strengthen public education and to improve the quality of in-school education.

15.Please explain how the denial of the right of children to appeal court judgments is related to the unique circumstances of the State party, such as the security situation as a divided nation and restoring public order in situations of national emergency.

16.Please provide further information on the measures taken to implement the Committee’s previous recommendations in its concluding observations to the State party’s reports submitted under the Convention (CRC/C/15/Add.197), the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSC/KOR/CO/1) and the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/KOR/CO/1).

17.Please provide information on de facto working conditions of children, and indicate whether the State party intends to ratify ILO Conventions No. 29 (1930) concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour and No. 105 (1957) concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour.

Part II

In this section, the State party is invited to briefly (three pages maximum) update the information provided in its report with regard to :

(a)New bills or laws, and their respective regulations;

(b)New institutions (and their mandates) or institutional reforms;

(c)Recently introduced policies, programmes and action plans and their scope and financing;

(d)Recent ratifications of human rights instruments.

Part III

Data, statistics and other information, if available

1.Please provide statistical data for 2008, 2009 and 2010, disaggregated by nationality, age, sex, ethnicity, geographic location, and socio-economic status on:

(a) The number of children deprived of a family environment and the type of care they receive, and the budgetary allocations for residential care institutions, foster homes and other forms of alternative care for children;

(b) The number of reported cases of children who were abused, neglected or sexually exploited. Please include information about any investigations or studies conducted thereon, as well as their outcomes;

(c) The number of suicides committed by children; and

(d) The number of children under the jurisdiction of the State party who have been victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation, both within and outside of the State party’s borders, as well as the rate of prosecution and conviction of perpetrators.

2.Please indicate what percentage of families raising children with disabilities are eligible to welfare services, education assistance, allowances and tuition especially provided for children with disabilities.

3.In addition, the State party may list areas affecting children that it considers to be of priority with regard to the implementation of the Convention.