Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Republic of Korea (Ratification: 2001)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs. In its previous comments, the Committee observed that the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities was not specifically prohibited in the relevant Korean legislation. It, therefore, requested the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to prohibit the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs, and sanctions envisaged. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to section 24(1) of the Juvenile Protection Act which states that establishments harmful to juveniles are prohibited from employing juveniles. It notes with interest that as per section 2(5) of the Juvenile Protection Act, “establishments harmful to juveniles” means establishments banned from employing juveniles or giving them access as well as establishments that permit access to juveniles but are banned from employing juveniles. This section further lists those establishments that fall under this definition which include the business of manufacturing, producing and distributing drugs harmful to juveniles. According to section 50(2) of the Juvenile Protection Act, any person who has employed juveniles to work for establishments harmful to them in violation of section 24(1) shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than three years or by a fine not exceeding 20 million won. The Committee finally notes the Government’s statement that in the Republic of Korea, there has been no reported case of using a child for the production of drugs.

Article 7(1). Penalties. The Committee previously noted the information in the concluding observations of 2 July 2008 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (CRCOP–SC) that an initiative called “John School” had been introduced in the Republic of Korea, whereby “men who have used a child for prostitution or are suspected of having done so are sentenced to undergo a mandatory rehabilitation programme”. Noting that this practice might exempt the perpetrators of child prostitution from a criminal sentence and thereby weaken the deterrent effects of the existing law which criminalizes this offence, the Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are provided for the infringement of the prohibition on using, procuring or offering of a child under 18 for prostitution.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Exploitation provides for penal sanctions, such as imprisonment with labour, fines, restrictions on employment and mandatory registration of personal information for sex crimes committed against minors. According to section 10 of the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Exploitation, the purchasing of sex with a child or juveniles is punishable with imprisonment for up to five years or a fine not exceeding 30 million won; coercing a child or juvenile into prostitution is punishable with imprisonment for a term of not less than five years (section 11); arranging for child prostitution is punishable either with imprisonment for a term of not less than seven years or a fine not exceeding 50 million won (section 12). The Committee further notes the Government’s information with regard to the number of cases reported under the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Exploitation. According to this data, in 2010, 1,014 cases were reported under section 10, cases involving 1,030 persons were processed, 110 persons were brought to public trial and 383 persons were brought to summary trial. During the same period, 150 cases were reported under section 11, cases involving 132 persons were processed, 49 persons were brought to public trial, and two persons were brought to summary trial. The Committee further notes the Government’s information with regard to the court decisions handed down on violations of the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Exploitation. Accordingly, in 2010, 265 persons were sentenced with restriction of physical freedom, and 153 persons were subject to property-related punishments.

Parts III and V of the report form. Court decisions and practical application of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that no violation with regard to forced child labour has been reported in the country. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its written reply of 16 August 2011 (CRC/C/KOR/Q/3–4/Add.1; paragraph 75) to the list of issues of the CRC, in consideration of the combined third and fourth periodic reports of the Republic of Korea that according to the statistics provided by the National Police Agency, in 2010, 1,345 offenders of sex trafficking of juveniles were arrested, of which 56 persons were indicted for offences resulting in detention.