□ On January, 2023, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea(Chairperson Song Doo-hwan, hereinafter referred to as 'the NHRCK') recommended that the head of the ○○ Immigration Office take 'cautionary' measures against an officer (hereinafter referred to as the 'Respondent') who asked a foreigner to write a statement showing an attitude of remorse to renew his alien registration card because he had been fined for drunk driving two years earlier.
□ In response, the head of the Immigration Office replied that it was difficult to believe that the respondent actively requested the victim to write and submit a statement against his will, and that he would not take 'cautionary' measures against the respondent.
However, in view of the fact that foreigners with permanent resident status, such as the victim in this case, are not subject to deportation or departure orders even if they are subject to criminal penalties of fines, the office said that it would improve the investigation method and documents submitted by foreigners in this case and conduct job training to prevent similar cases from recurring.
□ On May 11, 2023, the NHRCK determined that the Director of the Immigration and Foreigners Office had partially accepted the recommendations of the NHRCK.
○ In its original recommendation, the NHRCK had examined the statements submitted by the complainant in the two months following respondent's appointment and found that many of them went beyond promising to comply and included words such as "reflection," "sorry," "forgiveness," and "very sorry," indicating an attitude of active remorse and apology. This was not reasonably understandable without assuming that the complainant was actively guided. Nevertheless, the head of the office did not take any 'cautionary' measures against the complainant, and therefore, the NHRCK concluded that the office only partially accepted the recommendation.
□ The NHRCK express its regrets that the Head of the ○○Immigration Office deemed the reflections to have been written by the foreigners themselves and only partially accepted the recommendations, and issue this public release pursuant to Article 44, paragraph 1, and Article 25, paragraph 6, of the National Human Rights Commission Of Korea Act.
