Activists Condemn Candidate’s Alleged Hate Crimes Against Migrants

Migrant advocacy groups from across South Korea are calling for the arrest and investigation of Park Jin-jae, a far-right political candidate accused of unlawfully targeting and detaining migrants. A coalition of human rights organizations held a press conference on Wednesday in front of the National Police Agency in Seoul, urging authorities to protect the constitutional rights of foreign nationals.

Park, running for a seat in Daegu’s Buk A-constituency in the upcoming April 10 general elections, is a member of the minor far-right Jayu Party. According to the coalition, Park and the far-right group Citizen’s Protection Solidarity, which he belongs to, have been forcibly interrogating and illegally detaining foreign nationals they suspect of being undocumented or unregistered migrants.

Activists Condemn Candidate’s Alleged

The activists allege that Park has uploaded videos of these so-called “arrests” on YouTube and TikTok, exposing the identities of the migrants without their consent. The group criticized Park as a “manhunter” who has infringed on the authority of law enforcement and committed hate crimes against minorities based on a supremacist agenda akin to that of the Ku Klux Klan in the United States.

“Regardless of one’s nationality and infringement of immigration laws, everyone in Korea has the right to human dignity and liberty under the Constitution,” said Choi Jung-kyu, a lawyer leading the coalition. The group claims that Park’s aggressive behaviour, breaking into homes, and illegally detaining foreign nationals violate fundamental rights granted by the Korean Constitution.

Condemning Hate and Lack of Due Process

“Migrant workers are here because Korea’s society needs them and they are members of this society, like the rest of us,” said Udaya Rai, the head of the Migrants’ Trade Union. However, he criticized Korea’s immigration policies for keeping migrant workers in an undocumented status and inhumane working conditions, treating them as criminals.

According to the Ministry of Justice, there are over 400,000 undocumented immigrants in South Korea as of 2023. The coalition argues that the lack of a formal process for these migrants to gain legal status contributes to the hateful sentiment against them, despite their contributions to the domestic economy.

Call for Accountability and Reform

Human rights groups have urged the police to hold Park accountable for his alleged hate crimes, aggressive behaviour, and violations of due process. They have also called for reforms to South Korea’s immigration policies to provide a pathway for undocumented migrants to gain legal status and protect their rights as members of society.

The case has put a spotlight on the treatment of migrants in South Korea and the need for greater protection against hate crimes and discrimination based on nationality or immigration status.