Korea's Refugee Act: A Critical Evaluation under International Law

• Author: Andrew Wolman
• Pages: 479-495

Korea’s Refugee Act

479

VI JEAIL 2 (2013)

Andrew Wolman

∗

On December 29, 2011, the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea passed

the Law on the Status and Treatment of Refugees, which went into effect on

July 1, 2013. The law was the culmination of years of effort by the government,

NGOs, UNHCR and the lawmakers. It has been widely praised by civil society

groups in Korea. However, there has been little critical analysis of its provisions

whether it will truly be a successful legislation. This research critically evaluates

whether the new law is likely to promote Korean compliance with international

legal standards, namely, the 1951 Refugee Convention and major human rights

treaties. It finds that while the law represents a significant improvement over

current practices, it possesses problematic provisions related to detention, refugee

determination, economic and social rights of asylum-seekers, and the treatment

of recognized refugees. This essay will conclude by highlighting four outstanding

implementation questions that could impact compliance with international

standards.

Keywords

Refugee Act, 1951 Refugee Convention, UNHCR, Refugee Rights,

Asylum-Seekers

Korea

’

s Refugee Act:

A Critical Evaluation

under International Law

∗Associate Professor at the Graduate School of International and Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

A.B.(Princeton), J.D.(NYU), LL.M.(GWU). He may be contacted at: amw247@yahoo.com / Address: 270 Imun-

Dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Globeedorm, #A806, Seoul 130-791 Korea. This article was supported by the 2012 Hankuk

University of Foreign Studies Research Fund.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14330/jeail.2013.6.2.07

480Andrew Wolman

1. Introduction

After years of intense discussion and consultations between lawmakers, the

government, local civil society organizations and the local office of the United

Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (“UNHCR”), the National Assembly of

the Republic of Korea

1

passed the Law on the Status and Treatment of Refugees





The Refugee









Although the Refugee Act has been generally praised by observers, there has

been little critical analysis of its provisions or consideration of whether it will

truly be successful in bringing Korea into compliance with its obligations under





and assessing whether the law will lead to the effective fulfillment of Korea’s





refugee policy in Korea in Part two, Part three will provide an overview of the new





an evaluation of the Refugee Act’s compliance with international norms in four key





2. A Brief History of Korean Refugee Policy



1The Republic of Korea will be referred to as ‘Korea’ for the sake of brevity.

2Law No. 11298 (proclaimed Feb. 10, 2012, enforced July 1, 2013).

3Chul Hyo Kim, A Step Forward to Refugee Protection? South Korea’s New Refugee Act, 2 OxfOrd MOnitOrOf

fOrced MigratiOn 8 (2012).