VOL.69/2024.04

[Korean Scholars ⑬]

International Human Rights Expert, Professor Chung Chin-Sung

Determined Research and Responsible Practice

2023.01.02

Is our society getting better? To find the answer to this question, professor Chung Chin-Sung - a sociologist and international human rights expert - has been taking a great interest in human rights status and resolving relevant issues around the world. Particularly engaged in studying the responsible practice in human rights and women, professor Chung served as the president of the Korean Sociological Association (KSA), the Korean Association of Women’s Studies (KAWS), the Korean Association of Human Rights Studies (KAHRS), and the SNU Human Rights Center. Her various books and activities are recognized in the global community as well; she was a member of the UN’s Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and the adviser at the Commission on Human Rights. She was also the first Korean to be elected as a member of the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Let’s follow in the footsteps of professor Chung Chin-Sung, who has been dedicated to acting for the marginalized in the world.

For a Better Society

After graduating from the Department of Sociology at Seoul National University and receiving a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in the United States, professor Chung opted to specialize in sociology out of curiosity to learn more about our society. And, throughout her study, she has always mulled over ways to make our society a better place to live in. Then, as the answer to the struggle, she concluded that combining theory and practice leads to the development of our society, which encouraged her to pursue “practicing sociology.”
When she entered university, Korea was at a time when people were passionate about social progress and reform under the military dictatorship. She also sensed a desperate need for reform in Korean society. Thus, she participated in student movements and got to question the value of existence and felt antipathy towards the male-centered society. As a result, she became more interested in gender issues, which naturally led to the feminist and human rights movements. Then, in the 1990s, when society paid more attention to human rights, she began to study Japanese Military Sexual Slavery, which is known as “comfort women.” Professor Chung Chin-Sung, who pursued practicing sociology, met the victims herself and stood up to act for human rights issues, including migrant women in Korea. She also wrote various books and thesis papers related to human rights and the Korea-Japan relationship.

From Theory to Practice

Professor Chung Chin-Sung, who has a long history as an international human rights expert, has written about her experience in her books. For example, UN and the Formation of Human Rights Norms (Nanam), published in 2019, is a human rights study on the birth and development of international human rights norms. It analyzes the process of human rights norms introduced to the international society through detailed examples and explains what readers should do to eliminate violence and exploitation in the global society. Also, the book Sociology of Human Rights (Dasan), in which she participated as a co-writer, is a book that acknowledges the concept of “human rights” as an entity and analyzes human rights both qualitatively and quantitatively. It includes thesis papers about the formation and development of the sociology of human rights as well as theories and methodologies. Meanwhile, her other co-written book, Human Rights in East Asia (SNU Press), studies the trends and conditions for the improvement of human rights in East Asia, especially in Korea and Japan. It analyzes changes in human rights policies and practices in Korea and Japan, and provides direction for human rights research in East Asia.
The books on Japanese colonization cannot be left out, too, which was a painful time in Korean history. The book Dragged Away, Abandoned, and Standing Before Us (Purun Yoksa), written by a research team led by professor Chung Chin-Sung at the SNU Human Rights Center, talks about the stories of “comfort women” with photographs and various materials, giving readers a glimpse into their lives. Also, Koreans Living in Japan (SNU Press) is a book that includes a comprehensive study on the issues surrounding Koreans living in Japan, covering a timeline from the Japanese colonization period, when people began to move to Japan, to the 2010s. As the book also highlights the relationship between the “old-comers” and the “new-comers,” which are increasing in number due to greater Korean-Japan exchange, it might be helpful for readers to examine and predict future changes in their society. (For your reference, Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1965 - the year of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan – are called “old-comers,” and those who moved later are called “new-comers.”)

Professor Chung Chin-Sung, who is recognized as a human rights expert in both Korea and the world for her various books and activities, was the first Korean female sociologist to be elected as a member of UN CERD in 2017. She was re-elected in 2021. Upon her first election, she said, “As a sociologist, I will study and publicize how important it is to improve the deeply-rooted awareness towards racism in our society.” Following professor Chung, who has dedicated her entire life to improving the human rights of minorities, including the issues surrounding the Japanese military sexual slavery, women, and students, how about having some time to think about the marginalized in our society once again? Then, our society will become warmer and a better place to live in the new year.

Written by Choi Ha-Yeong