The Busan and Gwangju regional offices of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) held a number of commemorative events on the first anniversaries of their opening. Last year, the NHRCK opened regional offices in Busan and Gwangju to allow residents of Busan, South Gyeongsang Province, Gwangju, and South Jeolla Province to more easily file complaints and to resolve local human rights issues.
On October 11, the office in Busan held various events marking the first anniversary of its opening including a workshop on development of the regional office, presentations on solicited human rights-related visual materials in the Busan, Ulsan, and South Gyeongsang Province area, and a ceremony in commemoration of the first anniversary of its opening. The office broadcast a radio program directly produced in conjunction with a local private broadcasting company.
The office in Gwangju celebrated the first anniversary of its opening on October 12. In addition to a celebratory ceremony, the office held a public hearing on a survey of the perceptions of human rights conditions by local residents in Gwangju as well as North and South Jeolla Province. The public hearing was well received because it sought diagnosis and rectification of human rights issues based on the findings of one-on-one interviews of over 800 local residents. The office also held a meeting with the local press on its current and planned activities.
Many persons including related agency officers, migrant women, disabled persons, North Korean defectors, social welfare officers, and human rights activists attended the events commemorating the opening of the two regional offices. Those who were on hand at the celebratory ceremonies marking the first anniversaries urged the regional offices to be even more active in promoting human rights in the local communities.
