THE KUKMIN DAILY

The “National Action Plan on Human Rights” (NAP) was passed by the State Council on August 7. Church circles and civil organizations, having expressed strong opposition to the NAP through head-shaving, blood-writing, peaceful marches, and overnight rallies, are dismayed and have announced that they will conduct acts of civil disobedience.

As the NAP is now in effect, it is anticipated that a government-level gender equality policy, higher than that of the National Human Rights Commission, will be enforced. The NAP contains 27 mentions of gender equality, which includes homosexual, bisexual, asexual, and even pansexual concepts.

Similar legislation is expected to follow. The NAP specifically mentions “promoting legislation of basic laws to comprehensively regulate various kinds of discrimination and to effectively eliminate discrimination.” Due to its title, the government’s anti-discrimination act appears to be oriented toward human rights, but it will prevent even legitimate criticism of pan-sexuality, heretical religious groups, terrorism, or Islam. The NAP recognizes such criticism as hate, and thus blocks it at its root.

For this reason, church circles see the NAP not just as a bearer of poisonous elements, but as an unjust law that threatens the freedom of religion. On August 7, the Korean Federation of Churches, the Christian Council of Korea, the Communion of Churches in Korea, and the Council of Presbyterian Churches in Korea announced a joint statement declaring, “If the government enforces the NAP, which will turn the majority into the enemy in the name of embracing the minority, we will refuse and resist with the resolve of martyrs.” The Korean Association of Church Communication spoke out, saying, “The government has chosen biased human rights over the cry of the people.”

Article and photo by reporter Paek Sang-hyun (100sh@kmib.co.kr)


Original Article in Korean:
“국민 외침 외면한 편향된 인권, 시민불복종 운동으로 맞설 것”: 교계, ‘동성애 옹호’ 국가인권정책기본계획 공표에 경고

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Council of Denomination Heads: “No passage of NAP without citizens’ consent”