hankyoreh

Ahn Chang-ho, the nominee to become the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, takes his seat at his confirmation hearing before the National Assembly in Seoul on Sept. 3, 2024. (Kim Gyoung-ho/Hankyoreh)

Ahn Chang-ho, the current nominee to head the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK), is facing growing calls to withdraw from the running after a recent National Assembly confirmation hearing that many said showed him to be an unsuitable choice.

Specifically, many critics said it would be damaging to the principle of separation of church and state as stated in the Republic of Korea Constitution to have someone in an official position who uses conservative Christian ideology to justify hatred and discrimination.

After viewing Ahn’s confirmation hearing, minister Lee Dong-hwan — who was expelled by the Methodist church over prayers to bless LGBTQ+ people — bluntly said, “We cannot have ‘freedom of religion’ that suppresses other people’s human rights.”

In a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh on Wednesday, Lee said that Ahn represents “an extreme minority even within the Protestant community, with views that are especially fundamentalist, far-right, and discriminatory.”

“It is a serious problem when someone who confuses the boundaries of hatred and religious freedom is being appointed to serve as NHRCK chairperson, a position that requires a keen sensitivity to the human rights of minorities,” he added.

Lee also said, “In Christian thinking, God is a perfect being, and I have to wonder how they can say that the LGBTQ+ people whom God created are mistakes.”

“The scriptures should be interpreted in keeping with the teams, and it is malicious to selectively cite them [as Ahn did],” he commented.

Lee also said that Ahn’s bid to hold an official position should be “an occasion for discussing boundaries in terms of the separation of church and state.” In his view, the overt religious bias shown by Ahn in an official position may itself be damaging to freedom of religion as a constitutional value.

“There’s a problem in and of itself with us accepting people who occupy official positions while presenting their religious convictions as a matter of ‘freedom of religion,’ only to have a negative impact on human rights concepts under secular law,” Lee said.

Konkuk University law professor Han Sang-hie described Ahn as “someone who repudiates [South Korea’s] identity as a democratic republic.”

“To quote a phrase that President Yoon Suk-yeol likes to use, these are ‘anti-state forces,’” he said.

Han himself applied for the position of NHRCK chairperson, only to bow out in favor of “fighting for the NHRCK’s very existence.”

In his view, Ahn’s attitude in rejecting the theory of evolution and treating LGBTQ+ issues as a matter of denominational opinion rather than constitutional or human rights logic represents an “attempt to turn South Korea into a religious state, a theocracy, rather than a secular state.”

He also said that Ahn “lacks the basic qualities of a government official as someone who must remain loyal to the Constitution and serve the interests of the entire nation.”

Choi Young-ae was the NHRCK’s inaugural chairperson between 2002 and 2004 and served as a standing commissioner from 2004 to 2007 before returning as its eighth chairperson in 2018 to 2021. Remarking on the hearing, she said, “When [Ahn] was speaking, I looked at his expression, and he was assertive without any hesitation.”

“It was shocking and disappointing. Ahn Chang-ho is unqualified,” she added.

She also said, “In the NHRCK, it is very important what philosophy, norms, and values the chairperson holds. Whether it’s his ideas about anti-discrimination legislation and LGBTQ+ people or his comments about the way women dress being a factor causing sex crimes, [Ahn] would set back the social standards that our society has worked so hard to overcome.”

The day before, commenters on the NHRCK’s internal bulletin board posted messages expressing bafflement and even anger over the prospects of a commission with Ahn as chairperson.

“I have to ask whether the right to condemn minorities constitutes freedom of expression,” one wrote.

“[Ahn] said that evolutionary theory and creationism are both ‘matters of faith.’ Where did they get this person?” another said.

“If God created human beings, I guess we shouldn’t worry about the South Korean birth rate — just solve the problem of keeping up the supply of dust,” another wrote.

“I did not expect he would be so unfiltered even at a confirmation hearing,” a fourth user said.

Commenting on Ahn’s silence concerning human rights infringement issues involving Yoon, one NHRCK staffer said, “It’s very troubling to think he might be taking cues from the president or administration.”

Another staffer predicted, “There’s a very strong chance that any duties involving protecting LGBTQ+ human rights or equality legislation [comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation] will be stymied, and the human rights response to politically sensitive issues will be diminished.”

“It’s looking as though it might devolve into a commission that exists to protect the administration rather than one that performs duties to protect human rights,” they fretted.

A third staffer said, “There’s been a mixture of despair, resignation, concern, and anger among the staff. It’s looking as though the NHRCK will operate as a minor administrative organization.”

Civil society also called for Ahn’s withdrawal from candidacy.

On Wednesday, a press conference was staged in front of the National Assembly by Joint Action for Fixing the National Human Rights Commission of Korea — an organization with 35 human rights and civic groups taking part — and the South Korean Coalition for Anti-Discrimination Legislation.

During the press conference, the organizations commented, “[Ahn’s] National Assembly confirmation hearing was so shocking that before any question of whether this person is suitable as chairperson of the NHRCK, we had to wonder how a person with such a perspective could have been a Constitutional Court justice.”

“Ahn Chang-ho is someone who would lead the way in erasing ‘human rights’ from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea while disregarding the rights of minorities in our society, including LGBTQ+ people and workers,” they said.

“His nomination should be immediately withdrawn,” they urged.

By Koh Kyoung-tae, staff reporter; Lee Ji-hye, staff reporter; Lim Jae-hee, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]