l , , , , .
:
l , , .
l .
.
(Legal Code) .
Disclaimer
. .
. , .
through the Universal Periodic Review:
Korea’s Participation in the Universal Periodic Review

:
Working towards the Improvement of Human Rights
through the Universal Periodic Review
- Korea’s Participation in the Universal Periodic Review -

:
Seoul National University
International Cooperation Major
through the Universal Periodic Review
: Korea’s Participation in the Universal Periodic Review

:
Seoul National University
The Universal Period Review (UPR) was introduced with the establishment
of the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. In each UPR working
group session, UN member states receive recommendations regarding their
overall human rights conditions by other member states. In response, the state
under review announces whether the recommendation is supported or noted.
Supported recommendations create ground for the civil and international
society to pressure the state under review to implement measures to meet its
promises.
The paper aims to find factors that encourage Korea to accept
recommendations and how recommendations are realized on the domestic level.
The UPR is an inter-state political and diplomatic stage. However, the analysis
concludes that peer pressure based on political and economic relations does not
ii
seem to have a statistically significant effect in motiving states to accept
recommendations. Rather, carefully crafted recommendations taking into
consideration the level of action it requires, can lead to a higher chance of
acceptance. The case of criminalizing marital rape in Korea shows how UPR
recommendations are implemented. The UPR mechanism has been effectively
used to pressure the Korean government to amend the Criminal Act and change
the legal understanding of marital rape. Nevertheless, more delicate assessment
of the gap between implementation and social context should be made in order
to deliver more effective and necessary recommendations.
Key words: Universal Periodic Review, human rights, Human Rights
Council, international human rights mechanism, Korea, marital rape
Student ID number: 2016-29846
LIST OF ACRONYMS ...................................................................
1. Establishment of the Universal Periodic Review ...............................15
1) Commission of Human Rights to the Human Rights Council .......15
2) Establishment of the Universal Periodic Review ...........................18
3) Nature of the Universal Periodic Review ......................................19
4) Universal Periodic Review Procedures ..........................................20
2. Overview of the Past Cycles ..............................................................23
. KOREA’S PARTICIPATION IN THE UNIVERSAL
PERIODIC REVIEW ................................................................ 25
2. Korea as the Recommending State ....................................................28
iv
RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................30
2. Factors Leading to Korea’s Acceptance of Recommendation ............31
1) Hypothesis .....................................................................................31
2) Data ................................................................................................32
(3) Content of the Recommendation ................................................44
. RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATIONS:
1. Understanding Marital Rape ..............................................................52
2) Marital Rape in Korea ....................................................................54
2. The UPR and the Criminalization of Marital Rape ............................57
1) Recommendations Made at the Working Group Sessions ..............57
2) The Effects of the UPR ...................................................................58
3. Implications and Limitations ..............................................................61
Table 1. Number of Recommendations Made to Korea ..............................26
Table 2. Acceptance Rate of Recommendations .........................................27
Table 3. Recommendations Made by Korea in the Last Two Cycles ..........28
Table 4. Logistic Regression Results ..........................................................37
Table 5. Accepted Recommendations by Region ........................................40
Table 6. Acceptance of Recommendations by Action Level .......................45
Figure 1. UPR Procedure ............................................................................23
CIRI Cingranelli-Richards
UNHRC United Nations Human Rights Council
UPR Universal Periodic Review
surpassing national borders, have evolved and developed over the years.
Although state sovereignty is still the core principle in international relations,
the international community has gradually expanded its role to promote the
protection of human rights. The development of international law is a prime
example of the increased responsibility of the international community to
respond to the violation of human rights in individual states. The international
court is also expanding its jurisdiction and power in intervening in cases of
human rights violation. Other institutions such as United Nations (UN) treaty
bodies and Special Procedures specifically target human rights issues. Along
with international institutions, the civil society has been transcending state
borders, pressuring states, and raising awareness. Not only international forces,
but states are also pressuring and encouraging other states to improve its human
rights conditions through political and economic pressure.
Among many mechanisms and routes to promote better human rights
conditions internationally, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) has been
introduced with the establishment of the United Nations Human Rights Council
(UNHRC) in 2006. The UPR fundamentally aims to improve human rights
conditions in UN member states. All UN member states are subject to
73
, 25(3), 81-103.
1970.3.10, , 70 29,
2013.5.16, , 2012 14788,
, 2012-2016
. (2004). ,
, 2004 2 .
. (2013). . , 42,
163-188.
, 75-101.
- . , 58(8).
. (2013). :
UPR ( )
. . 13. 327-348.
. (2017). () 2017~2021 3 (NAP)

. , (62), 185-210.
74
, 7(3), 135-156.
. ,14(2), 275.
, 26(2), 39-63.
. (2014). Stata . :
.
. , 6(1)
. (2002). . , 43(2), 165-
186
. (2013). :
- 2013. 5. 16. 2012 14788
. , 14(4)
. (2017). : ,
. , 158-3, 777-811.
UN documents
United Nations, General Assembly, Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women, A/RES/34/180 (18 December
1979)
75
United Nations, General Assembly, Declaration on the Elimination of Violence
against Women, A/RES/48/104 (20 December 1993)
General Assembly Resolution 52/250, Participation of Palestine in the work of
the United Nations, A/RES/52/250 (13 July 1998)
United Nations, General Assembly, In larger freedom: towards development,
security and human rights for all, A/59/2005 (21 March 2005)
United Nations, General Assembly, In larger freedom: towards development,
security and human rights for all, A/59/2005/Add.1 (23 May 2005)
General Assembly Resolution 60/251, Human Rights Council, A/RES/60/251
(3 April 2006)
Nations Human Rights Council, A/HRC/RES/5/1 (18 June 2007)
United Nations, Human Rights Council, National Report Submitted in
Accordance with Paragraph 15(a) of the annex to Human Rights Council
Resolution 5/1, A/HRC/WG.6/2/KOR/1 (9 April 2008)
United Nations, Human Rights Council, Summary Prepared by the Office of
High Commissioner for Human Rights, in Accordance with Paragraph
15(c) of the annex to Human Rights Council Resolution 5/1,
A/HRC/WG.6/2/KOR/3 (2 April 2008)
United Nations, Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the
Universal Periodic Review Addendum Response of the Republic of Korea
on the Universal Periodic Review recommendations, A/HRC/8/40/Add.1
(25 August 2008)
United Nations, Human Rights Council, National Report Submitted in
Accordance with Paragraph 5 of the annex to Human Rights Council
Resolution 16/21, A/HRC/WG.6/14/KOR/1 (13 August 2012)
United Nations, Human Rights Council, Summary Prepared by the Office of
High Commissioner for Human Rights, in Accordance with Paragraph 5
of the annex to Human Rights Council Resolution 16/21,
A/HRC/WG.6/14/KOR/3 (19 July 2012)
United Nations, Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the
Universal Periodic Review, A/HRC/22/10 (12 December 2012)
United Nations, Human Rights Council, Report of the Human Rights Council
on its seventh organizational meeting, A/HRC/OM/7/1 (4 April 2013)
United Nations, Human Rights Council, National Report Submitted in
Accordance with Paragraph 5 of the annex to Human Rights Council
Resolution 16/21, A/HRC/WG.6/28/KOR/1 (4 September 2017)
United Nations, Human Rights Council, Summary Prepared by the Office of
High Commissioner for Human Rights, in Accordance with Paragraph 5
of the annex to Human Rights Council Resolution 16/21,
A/HRC/WG.6/28/KOR/3 (23 August 2017)
United Nations, Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the
Universal Periodic Review, A/HRC/37/11 (27 December 2017)
United Nations, Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the
Universal Periodic Review Addendum Views on conclusion and/or
recommendations, voluntary commitments and replies presented by the
State under review, A/HRC/37/11/Add.1 (28 February 2018)
77
Data
Cingranelli, David L., David L. Richards, and K. Chad Clay (2014). "The CIRI
Human Rights Dataset." Version 2014.04.14. Retrieved from
http://www.humanrightsdata.com
NGDPD@WEO/OEMDC/ADVEC/WEOWORLD)
Voeten, Erik et al. (2009), "United Nations General Assembly Voting Data",
Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1902.1/12379, Harvard Dataverse,
V18, UNF:6:xkt0YWtoBCThQeTJWAuLfg==
go.kr:38030/ets/
March 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018, from https://www.amnesty.org/
download/Documents/ACT5066652017ENGLISH.pdf
Cingranelli, David L. and David L. Richards. (2014). The Cingranelli-Richards
(CIRI) Human Rights Data Project Coding Manual Version 5.20.14.
Retrieved from http://www.humanrightsdata.com/p/data-
documentation.html
Freedom House. (2018). Freedom in the World 2018. Retrieved 28 April, 2018,
from https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FH_FITW_Report_2018
_Final _SinglePage.pdf
OHCHR. (2012) Human Rights Indicators: A Guide to the Measurement and
Implementation. HR/PUB/12/5. Retrieved September 28, 2017, from
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Human_rights_indicators
_en.pdf
OHCHR. List of past members of the Human Rights Council. Retrieved April
5, 2018, from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/
OHCHR. (2015.12.7). The Human Rights Council elects Ambassador
Ambassador Choi Kyong-lim of the Republic of Korea as its new President.
Retrieved April 5, 2018, from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/News
Events/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16851&LangID=E)
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/UPR/UPR_3rd_cycle.pdf
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRimplementation.as
px.
OHCHR. UPR NGOs Mid-term reports. Retrieved April 25, 2018, from
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPR-NGOs-Mid-term-
reports.aspx
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/UPR/UPR_timeline.pdf
Rhan Hee. (2011). South Korean Report on UN CEDAW to Go on the Spot
Deliberations. Korea Women’s HotLine. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from
http://enghotline.cafe24.com/south-korean-report-on-un-cedaw-to-go-on-
the-spot-deliberations/
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/kofi-annan
Nations. Retrieved April 18, 2018, from https://www.un.org/press/en
/2012/ ga11317.doc.htm
UN News. (2011, July 14). UN Welcomes South Sudan as 193rd Member State.
Retrieved March 12, 2018, from https://news.un.org/en/story
/2011/07/381552-un-welcomes-south-sudan-193rd-member-state
UN Women. (2017). Spotlight on Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve
gender equality and empower all women and girls. Retrieved April 20,
2018, from http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/multimedia
/2017/7/infographic-spotlight-on-sdg-5
UPR Info. UPR Info’s Database. Retrieved by 4 November, 2017, from
https://www.upr-info.org/database/files/Database_Action_Category.pdf
UPR Info. (2014). Beyond Promises: The impact of UPR on the ground.
Retrieved November 4, 2017, from https://www.upr-info.org/
sites/default/files/general-document/pdf/2014_beyond_promises.pdf
UPR Info. (2016). The Butterfly Effect: Spreading good practices of UPR
implementation. Retrieved November 2, 2017, from https://www.upr-
info.org/sites/default/files/general-document/pdf/2016_the_butterfly
_effect.pdf
U.S. Department of State. (2018). Voting Practices in the United Nations 2017.
Retrieved May 10, 2018, from https://www.state.gov/
. (2012, August 17). … , 8 ,
. http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/women/547496.html (accessed
http://www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/4319024 (accessed on 26 April, 2018)
. (2014, January 14). [] 2
(UPR)
. http://www.peoplepower21.org/
International/1123795 (accessed on 28 April, 2018)
. (2018). 2017
- http://hotline.or.kr/board_statistics/36688
Variable Definition Source
State Response Korea’s response to the recommendations made in the
working group sessions. Accepted(1), Noted(0).
UPR INFO,
UPR working
group reports
Korea
the two states have voted in the same way regarding
resolutions in the UN General Assembly between
years of 2000 and 2015.
Voeten et al.
(2009)
GDP GDP in current price of the recommending state at the
point when the recommendation was made. Due to the
limitation in the data set, North Korea and Palestine is
not included.
IMF (2018)
recommending state at the point when the
recommendation was made. The freedom status is
coded as follows: (1) Free, (2) partially free, (3) not
free (3).
Freedom House
Human Rights
rights indexes(Physical Integrity Rights Index,
Empowerment Rights Index, Women’s Economic
Rights and Political Rights Index, Independence of the
Judiciary Index) of the recommending state. Higher
scores refer to higher respect of these rights. The data
set is limited to the year of 2011. Thus the year 2011
data is used for the third cycle dataset. Also, the dataset
does not include indexes of Palestine.
Cingranelli-
Action Level Action level shows the level of action the
recommendation proposes. The categorization of
action level is as follows: (1) minimal action, (2)
continuing action, (3) considering action, (4) general
action, (5) specific action. For the first and second
cycle, the data has been acquired through UPR Info.
The data for the third cycle was collected based on the
UPR working group report.
.
,
.

.
,

.

.

(Action Level)
.

.
83
.


.
: , , , ,
,
1) Commission of Human Rights to the Human Rights Council
2) Establishment of the Universal Periodic Review
3) Nature of the Universal Periodic Review
4) Universal Periodic Review Procedures
2. Overview of the Past Cycles
. KOREA’S PARTICIPATION IN THE UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW
1. Korea as the State under Review
2. Korea as the Recommending State
. FACTORS INFLUENCING KOREA’S RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Recommendations Supported by the State under Review
2. Factors Leading to Korea’s Acceptance of Recommendation
1) Hypothesis
2) Data
(3) Content of the Recommendation
. RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATIONS: THE CASE OF MARITAL RAPE
1. Understanding Marital Rape
2) Marital Rape in Korea
2. The UPR and the Criminalization of Marital Rape
1) Recommendations Made at the Working Group Sessions
2) The Effects of the UPR
3. Implications and Limitations
ABSTRACT (KOREAN)