- Mr. Soh Changrok has been elected Chair of the Human Rights Committee and Ms. Kim Miyeon Chair of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. -

- Their elections, along with Korea’s membership on the UN Human Rights Council for the 2025–2027 term, are expected to help enhance Korea’s international standing in the field of human rights protection and promotion. -

1. Mr. Soh Changrok, member of the UN Human Rights Committee, and Ms. Kim Miyeon, member of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, were respectively elected as chairs of their Committees on Monday, March 3, in Geneva, Switzerland.

※ The Human Rights Committee is composed of 18 independent international human rights experts and monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) by State parties.

※ The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is also composed of 18 international human rights experts and monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

※ While members of UN human rights treaty bodies are elected by all State parties, the Chair of each treaty body is elected by its members.

2. Mr. Soh, the first Korean ever elected to the Human Rights Committee since Korea’s accession to the ICCPR in 1990, has served on the body since 2021. A leading international human rights expert in Korea, Mr. Soh previously served on the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee (2014–2020) and as President of the Korean Association of Human Rights Studies (2019–2020). His election as Chair came in recognition of  his deep expertise and active contributions to the promotion and protection of human rights across various sectors, including the UN, academia, and civil society.

3. Ms. Kim has worked on the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities since her first election in 2018 followed by her re-elections for the 2019–2022 and 2023–2026 terms. Since 2021, she has served as Vice Chair of the Committee — the first Korean to do so — and as Chair of the Working Group on Women and Girls with Disabilities, working to enhance State parties’ CRPD implementation. Her election reflects her various experiences and long-standing contributions to disability rights, including her involvement in the drafting of the CRPD in 2006, her leadership on the Committee, and her past roles as a policy adviser and international human rights expert on the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. It is notable that she is the first Asian woman with a disability to be elected Chair of this Committee.

4. Mr. Soh and Ms. Kim are the first Koreans in approximately 18 years since the election of Professor Lee Yanghee as Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in May 2007 to be elected to chair UN human rights treaty bodies. Their expertise and activities, along with Korea’s membership on the UN Human Rights Council for the 2025–2027 term, are expected to contribute greatly to a further elevation of Korea’s global profile in the protection and promotion of human rights.

5. Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul conveyed his congratulations, stating that their election is a meaningful achievement for the Korean government, which has long been committed to the protection and advancement of human rights in the international community.

6. The Korean government remains committed to supporting the participation of qualified Korean experts in international human rights bodies, in line with its foreign policy that upholds universal values such as human rights.

※ Korean experts currently serving in UN human rights mechanisms include Kim Miyeon (CRPD), Soh Changrok (ICCPR), Lee Joo-young (CESCR) and Chung Chinsung (CERD).