The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) dismissed a petition claiming that writer Yoo Si-min belittled Seol Nan-young, spouse of former People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo, during the 21st presidential election.
According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the 17th, the commission recently dismissed a petition filed by the People Power Party asking it to determine whether Yoo's remarks about Seol were sexist.
In May, appearing on YouTube "Kim Ou-joon's Dasboeida," Yoo said, "The position of being the spouse of a presidential candidate from a major party is a position that Seol Nan-young cannot reach in her life," and "This is why this person's feet are floating in the air. So this person is out of their mind."
Yoo also said, "In Seol Nan-young's view, candidate Kim is such an extraordinary person that he is out of balance with her," and "Through marriage to such a man, she may feel, 'I have been elevated a bit more.'"
The People Power Party criticized Yoo's remarks, saying they "failed to break away from an outdated perception that classifies South Korean women by education level and occupation," and filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
However, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) reviewed the petition from the two angles of "human rights violation" and "discrimination," and concluded it was not subject to investigation.
First, from the perspective of human rights violations, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) explained that Yoo is a "private individual," so the case does not fall within its investigatory scope. Under the National Human Rights Commission of Korea Act, human rights violations by private individuals cannot be those surveyed, and only human rights violations by state institutions are those surveyed.
On the discrimination standard, private individuals can be investigated, but the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) determined that Yoo's remarks did not cause any disadvantage defined by law, so it likewise does not fall under those surveyed.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said, "As the petition does not meet the investigation criteria under both human rights violation and discrimination, it has been dismissed as 'not subject to investigation.'"