Domestic implementation of international criminal law
Republic of Korea
Domestic
LegislationJudicial decisions Truth and Reconciliation Commissions Peace Agreements Resources and Links
Crimes Crime of Aggression / Crimes against peace
Article 5 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea states:
"The Republic of Korea shall endeavor to maintain international peace and shall renounce all aggressive wars."
Crimes against humanity
Act on the Punishment of Crimes within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. (Chapter 2 "Punishment of Crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court", Article 9)
Act No. 8719 of 2007, 21 December 2007. [ENG]Genocide
Act on the Punishment of Crimes within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. (Chapter 2 "Punishment of Crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court", Articles 8 and 2)
Act No. 8719 of 2007, 21 December 2007. [ENG]War Crimes
Act on the Punishment of Crimes within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. (Chapter 2 "Punishment of Crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court", Articles 10-14, 2)
Act No. 8719 of 2007, 21 December 2007. [ENG]
Jurisdiction
➤ Article 3 of the Act on the Punishment of Crimes within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court states:
"Article 3 (Application)
See:(1) This act shall apply to any Korean national or foreigner who commits a crime stated in this Act within the territory of the Republic of Korea.
(2) This act shall apply to any Korean national who commits a crime stated in the Act outside the territory of the Republic of Korea.
(3) This Act shall apply to any foreigner who commits a crime stated in the Act in a vessel or aircraft of the Republic of Korea, outside the territory of the Republic of Korea.
(4) This Act shall apply to any foreigner who commits a crime stated in this Act against the Republic of Korea or its people outside the territory of the Republic of Korea.
(5) This Act shall apply any foreigner who commits crimes such as genocide outside the territory of the Republic of Korea and stays in the territory of the Republic of Korea".
Act on the Punishment of Crimes within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
Act No. 8719 of 2007, 21 December 2007. [ENG]
➤ "The Korean Constitution states, in Article 6, paragraph 1, that duly concluded and promulgated treaties and generally recognized rules of international law shall have the same effect as the domestic laws of the Republic of Korea. Meanwhile, Korea's Criminal Code establishes its jurisdiction on the basis of the principles of territoriality, nationality and specially protected interests, rather than that of universality. However, the fact that the Criminal Code does not overtly stipulate the principle of universality should not prevent the Korean courts from exercising universal jurisdiction, since, in the eyes of the Constitution, treaties and customary international law incorporating universal jurisdiction have the same standing within Korea as Korean domestic law."
[Information provided by Republic of Korea on the scope of universal jurisdiction in accordance with General Assembly resolution 64/117.]
See:Information provided by Republic of Korea on the scope of universal jurisdiction in accordance with General Assembly resolution 64/117.
The scope and application of the principle of universal jurisdiction (Agenda item 86), General Assembly of the United Nations, Sixth Committee (Legal), sixty-fifth session (4 October to 11 November 2010).
[General Assembly resolution 64/117 (A/RES/64/117) of 15 January 2010, "[R]equests the Secretary-General to invite Member States to submit, before 30 April 2010, information and observations on the scope and application of the principle of universal jurisdiction, including information on the relevant applicable international treaties, their domestic legal rules and judicial practice, and to prepare and submit to the General Assembly, at its sixty-fifth session, a report based on such information and observations." This document contains the reply provided by the Republic of Korea to the said request.]
➤ Other common provisions applicable to crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes:
Superior Orders: Article 4 of the Act on the Punishment of Crimes within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. Responsibility of Commanders and Other Superiors: Article 5 of the Act on the Punishment of Crimes within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. Non-applicability of statutory limitations: Article 6 of the Act on the Punishment of Crimes within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
See:Act on the Punishment of Crimes within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
Act No. 8719 of 2007, 21 December 2007. [ENG]
International Criminal Court
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: The Republic of Korea signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on 8 March 2000 and deposited its intrument of ratification on 13 November 2002.Statement of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, on the conclusion of the preliminary examination of the situation in the Republic of Korea.
ICC-OTP-20140623-PR1019, Office of the Prosecutor, 23 June 2014. [ENG]ICC Prosecutor: Alleged war crimes in the territory of the Republic of Korea under preliminary examination.
ICC-CPI-20101206-PR608, Office of the Prosecutor, 06 december 2010. [ENG]
Case on the Extinctive Prescription of the Right to Claim for State Compensation for Past Incidents. Case No. : 2014Hun-Ba148, 30 August 2018. [ENG] Challenge against the Act of Omission Involving Article 3 of "Agreement on the Settlement of Problem concerning Property and Claims and the Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Korea and Japan". Case No. : 2006Hun-Ma788, 30 August 2011. [ENG] Confiscation of Property Awarded for Pro-Japanese Collaboration During Japanese Occupation Case. Case No. : 2008Hun-Ba141, 31 March 2011. [ENG] Legislative Omissions with respect to Civilian Massacre during The Korean War. Case No. : 2000Hun-Ma192, 15 May 2003. [ENG]
Framework Act on Clearing up Past Incidents for Truth and Reconciliation (“the Framework Act”). Law No. 7542, 31 May 2005. [ENG]. [Edition in progress]
This Act establishes the Committee on Clearing Up Part Incidents for Truth and Reconciliation, known as "The Commission". The Commission was tasked to investigate human rights violations during the Japanese rule, as well as incidents of death, injury or disappearance, and other major acts of human rights violations, including politically fabricated trials, that were committed through illegal or seriously unjust exercise of state power from August 15, 1945 to the end of the authoritarian regimes.Special Act to Find the Truth on Suspicious Deaths. Law No. 7542, 31 May 2005. [ENG]. [Edition in progress]
This Act establishes the Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths, which operated beween October 2000 and August 2004. It was signed into law by the President on January 15, 2000 and later amended on November 14, 2002 to extend the commission’s mandate for a second term. The Commission was entrusted with the investigation into the death of citizens in South Korea between 1975 and 1987, report on the findings, make recommendations to the President, and identify perpetrators for prosecution.
Declaration on the Advancement of South-North Korean Relations Peace and Prosperity.
04 October 2007. [ENG]South-North Joint Declaration.
15 June 2000. [ENG]
Agreed Framework between the United States of America and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
21 October 1994. [ENG]Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
20 January 1992. [ENG]
Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-Aggression, and Exchanges and Cooperation between South and North Korea.
13 December 1991. [ENG]
The July 4 South-North Joint Communiqué.
07 July 1972. [ENG]
Agreement Concerning a Military Armistice in Korea.
27 July 1953. [ENG]
Constitution of the Republic of Korea.
Ministry of Government Legislation. [ENG]. [Last accessed 13Apr19]. [External Link to pdf document]
Criminal Act of the Republic of Korea.
Ministry of Government Legislation. [ENG]. [Last accessed 13Apr19]. [External Link to pdf document]
Criminal Procedure Act of the Republic of Korea.
Ministry of Government Legislation. [ENG]. [Last accessed 13Apr19]. [External Link to pdf document]
Korean Laws in English.
Ministry of Government Legislation. [ENG]. [Last accessed 13Apr19]. [External Link]
Constitutional Court of Korea’s decisions in English.
Constitutional Court of Korea. [ENG]. [Last accessed 13Apr19]. [External Link]
Situation in the Republic of Korea: Article 5 Report. 23 June 2014
The Office of the Prosecutor, ICC-CPI, The Hague, NDL. ENG] [Last accessed 13Apr19] [External Link to pdf document]
Act No. 6476 on the Regulation of the Use and Transfer of Certain Conventional Weapons including Mines, 2001.
Governmental Gazette No. 14808, pp. 43-47.
List of International Humanitarian Law Treaties to which the Republic of Korea is a State party.
International Committee of the Red Cross. [ENG] [Last accessed 13Apr19] [External Link]
Resources on the issue of "Comfort Women":
Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Korean Council). [KOR/ENG]. [Last accessed 13Apr19]. [External Link]
Fight for Justice. (“Comfort Women” issue website).
[KOR/ENG]. [Last accessed 13Apr19]. [External Link]