501. Regarding article 24 of the Covenant, the representative of the State party stated that the Government was making every effort to prevent the employment of children in bars or in the entertainment business. 502. In connection with article 27 of the Covenant, the representative of the State party emphasized that the Republic of Korea was a homogenous nation with a distinct population sharing a common language and culture. There were, however, approximatively 51,000 residents of foreign origin, of whom 23,500 were Chinese. All of them enjoyed fundamental human rights in every field, pursuant to the Constitution and the Covenant. Concluding observations by individual members 503. Members of the Committee thanked the representative of the State party for his cooperation in presenting the report and for having endeavoured to respond to the many questions asked by members. The report, which had been submitted within the specified period, contained detailed information on the laws and regulations relating to the implementation of the Covenant. However, it lacked information about the implementation of the Covenant in practice and about factors and difficulties impeding the application of the Covenant. 504. Members noted with satisfaction that the Republic of Korea had acceded to a number of international human rights instruments, including the Covenant and its Optional Protocol, and had joined ILO. Members were also pleased to note that consideration was being given to the possibility of -withdrawing the Republic of Korea's reservations to the Covenant. Furthermore, progress had been made with regard to legal aid and towards narrowing the scope of operation of the National Security Law. Internal dissent was now possible and the Constitutional Court was playing a vigorous and independent role. 505. At the same time, it was noted that some of the concerns expressed by members of the Committee had not been fully allayed. The Constitution itself did not cover all the rights enshrined in the Covenant and the argument that, under article 37 of the Constitution, various rights and freedoms not enumerated in the Constitution were not to be neglected, was not deemed satisfactory. Deep concern was expressed over the continued operation of the National Security Law. Although the political situation in which the Republic of Korea found itself undoubtedly had implications for public order in the country, the importance of such a situation ought not be overemphasized. It was thus felt that ordinary laws and specifically applicable criminal laws should be sufficient to deal with offences against national security. It was noted with concern that some issues addressed by the National Security Law were defined in somewhat vague terms, which seemed to allow for broad interpretation and result in sanctions for acts that might not be truly dangerous for the State. Furthermore, a broad definition of State secrets in connection with the definition of espionage was potentially open to abuse, 506. Members also expressed concern in respect of the persisting areas of discrimination against women; the still high number of offences liable to the death penalty; the inclusion of robbery among the offences carrying the death penalty, which seemed clearly to contravene article 6 of the Covenant; the use of excessive force by the police; the excessively long periods of pretrial detention; the actual implementation of article 9, paragraph 3, of the Covenant; the extent of the investigatory powers of the National Security -121-