REPUBLIC OF KOREA 470. The Committee considered the initial report of the Republic of Korea (CCPR/C/68/Add.l> at its 1150th, 1151st and 1154th meetings, held on 13, 14 and 15 July 1992 (CCPK/C/SR.1150, SB.1151 and SE.1154). (For the composition of the delegation, see annex VIII.) 471. The report was introduced by the representative of the State party who explained that, subsequent to the revision of the Constitution on 29 October 1987, institutional measures had been taken to embody genuinely democratic principles and to enhance the protection of human rights. The Constitution, based on the Declaration for Democracy of 29 June 1987, represented a turning-point in the struggle for democracy in the Republic of Korea and provided for the election of the President of the Republic by direct popular vote. It had strengthened the power of the National Assembly vis-a-vis the administration and improved the procedure for appointing judges. A Constitutional Court had been established to review the constitutionality of laws and rule on petitions by individuals seeking redress of human rights infringements. Improvements had also been made in the penal administration by the institution of legal aid programmes and the abolition of the death penalty for 15 types of crime. Furthermore, amendments to the Penal Code and the Code of Penal Procedure to reinforce the principle of millum crimen sine leae were being finalized. 472. Accession to the Covenant had played an important role in the overall strengthening of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Republic of Korea. International human rights instruments had been translated into and published in the Korean language, and measures had been taken to publicize the Covenant among law enforcement officials. Provisions of the Covenant had already been applied by the Constitutional Court and the Government was currently undertaking a review of its position regarding the reservations it had made in acceding to the Covenant. The admission of the Republic of Korea to membership of the United Nations in September 1991 had given additional momentum to the Government's efforts to promote human rights in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. Furthermore, in becoming a fullfledged member of ILO in December 1991, the Republic of Korea had strongly endorsed international endeavours to ensure the protection of fundamental trade union rights and was currently considering acceding to various ILO Conventions. 473. The representative of the State party further emphasized that one of the most important factors affecting the implementation of the Covenant in the Republic of Korea was the tense situation resulting from the division of the Korean peninsula. It was not until 1991, following the end of the cold war, that the two sides had succeeded in engaging in a serious dialogue and begun to seek a way to reunify the nation peacefully. The Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-Aggression and Exchanges and Cooperation had subsequently been concluded in February 1992 and had led to a series of regular consultations that were expected to narrow the gap between the two countries in every field. Nevertheless, it was only natural that a country that had been nearly overthrown by invasion should feel unable to relax its guard against further aggression or subversion of its liberal democratic system. Accordingly, the National Security Law had been adopted and continued to operate to protect the security and the integrity of the system. In spite of -113-