Amnesty International assessed the human rights situation in South Korea last year as being “in a transitional period in which human rights challenges persist even after the restoration of democracy.” It also pointed out shortcomings in responses to climate issues and gender-based violence.

On the 21st, Amnesty International announced the release of the ‘2025 World Human Rights Status Report’. The report analyzed the human rights situation in 144 countries over the past year. It is the first human rights report since the launch of the current administration.

Regarding South Korea, the report described it as “a transitional period where the restoration of democracy and human rights challenges intersect.” The 2024 human rights report released in April last year pointed out that “various fundamental rights were being violated due to the declaration of martial law,” but it viewed democracy as being in a process of recovery around the launch of the current administration. It cited as major changes, different from 2024, institutional responses such as a decision by the Constitutional Court that martial law was unconstitutional, a change of administration, and follow-up investigations including a special counsel.

It found that these changes did not translate directly into human rights improvements. As examples, it cited cases in which peaceful assemblies by disability rights activists were punished, and requirements that advance notices for outdoor assemblies be submitted in person at police stations.

It also judged that South Korea remains inadequate in responding to climate and gender-based violence. This was also noted in the 2024 report. With respect to climate action, it maintained greenhouse gas reduction targets and established related ministries such as the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, but it concluded that these fell short of international recommendations.

In the area of responses to gender-based violence, legal revisions were made regarding deepfake sexual exploitation materials, but law enforcement, ensuring platform accountability, and victim protection were still assessed as insufficient. The report stated that “technology-mediated gender-based violence remained a serious challenge.” Although the introduction of abortion medication was selected as a core governmental policy task, it was evaluated that no concrete implementation plan was presented to achieve it. In addition, rising discrimination and hate speech, conscientious objection to military service, and corporate human rights responsibility were also identified as key issues.

Regarding the global human rights situation, the report assessed that “international norms and accountability mechanisms are being undermined by the influence of states, corporations, and anti-rights actors, and an anti-rights world order is spreading.” It cited conflicts in the Middle East as a representative example. It also observed a trend in many countries of excessive force being used in the suppression of protests, restrictions on freedom of expression through anti-terror laws, and tightened constraints on civil society.

Cho Hee-Kyung, Secretary General of Amnesty International Korea, said, “To ensure that the restoration of democracy leads to improvements in human rights, the substantive implementation of institutional changes is necessary,” adding, “This year, the Korea section will set responses to digital sexual violence, abortion, corporate responsibility, and North Korean human rights as key campaign agendas, and will continue human rights advocacy activities together with supporters.” The full report can be found on the Amnesty International Korea “State of the World Human Rights Report” webpage.