Human Rights in East Asia Page 1 of 24 Printed from Oxford Research Encyclopedias, International Studies. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: OUP-Reference Gratis Access; date: 27 November 2023 Human Rights in East Asia Ñusta Carranza Ko, University of Baltimore https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190846626.013.807 Published online: 22 November 2023 Summary East Asia is a region that has been the focus of discussions about economic development, democratization, nuclear proliferation, technological innovations, and health-related issues. Due to its historical past of colonization (including countries that have been colonizers and those that have been colonized), interstate and regional wars, involvement in world wars, and authoritarian governance, it is also a region that has experienced human rights violations, human rights advancements, and human rights–related policy developments. Thus, the study of East Asia and human rights encompasses colonial, Cold War, post–Cold War, and the post September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks periods of history. Based on the vast amount of scholarship on human rights in the region, a spectrum of approaches should be used to study human rights that (a) examines case-specific human rights violations which focus on vulnerable populations in society; (b) theorizes and questions the essence of human rights and its value systems; and (c) explores developments in human rights–related policy that involve transitional justice processes of truth-seeking, reparations, and criminal accountability regarding past human rights crimes. Examination of historic violations of women’s rights and children’s rights in the case of comfort women who were sexually enslaved by Japan’s Imperial Army during the Asia-Pacific War centers the victims and their experiences. A focus on minority rights leads to the consideration of issues of human trafficking of women and girls in Mongolia and North Korea, social and ethnic minority groups’ concerns in Japan and South Korea, and the plight of Uyghur people in China. The Asian (Confucian) values debate leads to consideration of why human rights have been questioned, why they may be considered as impositions, and which approaches can be taken to re-examine human rights with regard to this region. Finally, the discussion of transitional justice as it relates to East Asian states provides a much needed recognition of the importance of the region for innovating transitional justice policies. Keywords: East Asia, human trafficking, Confucian values, comfort women, transitional justice Subjects: Human Rights, Identity, Politics and Sexuality and Gender Introduction East Asia—China, South Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea), Japan, Taiwan, and Mongolia—is a region in which respect for human rights norms has undergone significant changes in the early 21st century. For instance, in compliance with the obligations set forth in the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Mongolia abolished the death penalty in 2017. Mongolia has also adopted the Law on the National Human Rights Commission to establish a national mechanism on torture and prevention, reflecting its state party’s obligation to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (2002; United Nations, 2020). In 2022, South Korea received a score of 83 out of 100 on the Global Freedom Score, which assesses Ñusta Carranza Ko, University of Baltimore