UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued strong warning, called for government-led mediation and resolution
Park Ju-yeon
Published Oct. 9, 2025
Translated by Marilyn Hook
The conflict surrounding the construction of a
mosque in Daegu's Buk-gu district is now stretching into its fifth year. Since
the Buk-gu District Office abruptly halted construction in 2021, construction
has not resumed despite the Supreme Court's confirmation of the project’s legality.
This spring, a political party put up banners in downtown Daegu that incited
hatred against Muslims. In the Daehyeon-dong neighborhood, a banner denouncing
a Muslim international student as unscrupulous was hung.
This situation goes beyond a simple local
construction dispute; its outcome will signal whether South Korea will regress
to a society where hatred and discrimination against ethnic, cultural, and
religious minorities are commonplace, or whether it will advance toward a
mature democracy that respects diversity and human dignity.
In May, the UN Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination (CERD) released an official report on this conflict that
urged the Korean government to take responsible action, and this has increased
international interest and pressure regarding the issue.
The "A Peaceful Resolution to the Daegu Muslim
Mosque Construction Conflict: Implementation of the UN Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination's Concluding Observations" forum held
in the National Assembly Members' Hall on September 24th. (Photo credit: Ilda)
On September 24th, a forum was held at the
National Assembly Members' Hall to explore "A Peaceful Resolution to the
Daegu Muslim Mosque Construction Conflict: Implementation of the UN Committee
on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination's Concluding Observations."
The forum was hosted jointly by National Assembly members Yong Hye-in, Shin
Jang-sik, and Son Sol, along with the Committee for a Peaceful Resolution of
the Daegu Buk-gu Mosque Issue and the South Korean Coalition for Anti-discrimination
Legislation.
State’s passivity is “an act of racism”
Kim Ji-rim, a lawyer with the GongGam Human
Rights Law Foundation, said, "The conflict surrounding the construction of
the Daegu mosque, [a project] which began in 2020 and is not yet completed in
2025, is a case of complex discrimination based on religion and race." She
pointed out that this is an example where "governmental illegalities and
inaction have played a decisive role in prolonging the conflict." She
argued, "Despite a region suffering great pain for over five years due to
serious conflict, the relevant government agencies seem unable to even figure
out how to define this phenomenon."
Construction of the mosque began in September
2020 after the proper building permit was obtained. However, in February 2021,
when some residents filed a petition citing concerns about
"slumification," the Buk-gu District Office immediately issued an
order to halt construction. Ms. Kim pointed out that the Supreme Court then
ruled that the Buk-gu District Office's order was "an action without any
legal basis" and "invalid due to its obvious and serious
defects." Her analysis is that the reason an administrative action was
taken without legal review or an opportunity to hear the opinions of the parties
involved was because the people affected were “immigrants and Muslim
students."
The problem doesn't end there. When racist
banners were hung near the construction site, the Buk-gu District Office
claimed that it "could not crack down on them because they were posted
after legal notice of a gathering was filed" [and were considered as part
of the gathering]. This despite the Outdoor Advertising Act containing a
clause that prohibits racially
discriminatory postings. Ms. Kim criticized this as "evidence that they
don’t view this as a racially discrimination issue at all.'"
Even when actions involving pork, which is taboo
for Muslims, took place near the construction site, such as pig heads being
left out or roasting parties for pig’s feet and pork belly taking place, Buk-gu
officials responded that "this is not a matter for the Daegu Buk-gu District
Office to get involved in." They also said, "The pig heads are being
used for the purpose of opposing the construction of the mosque, so they are
necessary items for the residents involved, and therefore do not fall under the
category of waste (that must be removed)." Attorney Kim determined that
the administrative agency's responses went beyond simple neglect and
"actively assisted the oppositional residents," and thus "the
state committed an act of racial discrimination."
CERD calls conflict “most notorious example of
Muslims being targeted by hate speech”
As the state continued its irresponsible stance
towards the issue, civil society activists attempted to resolve it through
international human rights organizations. Article 2, paragraph 1, of the UN
Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination stipulates, "States
Parties condemn racial discrimination and undertake to pursue, by appropriate
means and without delay, a policy of eliminating racial discrimination in all
its forms and promoting understanding among all races." South Korea became
a party to the convention in 1978.
In August 2023, three UN Special Rapporteurs on the
freedom of religion or belief sent a letter of inquiry to the government,
expressing "serious concerns." The government responded, "We
have made efforts to resolve the conflict, including holding four mediation
meetings and three conflict management consultations." However, attorney
Kim Ji-rim criticized these meetings, saying they were mere formalities that
didn’t even include proper interpretation services.
On April 1st of this year, ahead of the review
of the Republic of Korea's 20th, 21st, and 22nd periodic reports on its
implementation of the convention, an independent report on the Daegu mosque was
submitted by members of civil society. The chairperson of the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) then asked the government,
"What measures are you planning to take to peacefully resolve this dispute
related to the construction of the Daegu mosque?" The government responded,
essentially, "There are currently no banners or other things violating the
human rights of Muslims, and we are working to resolve the issue." This
was untrue. Photos of banners violating human rights were even taken in Daegu
and delivered to CERD. When the chairperson questioned the government again,
the Korean government failed to answer.
On Jan. 18, 2023, a protest was held in front of
Daegu’s Buk-gu District Office to condemn its failure to take action on the
conflict and hateful discrimination surrounding the mosque. (Photo credit:
South Korean Coalition for Anti-discrimination Legislation)
According to Ms. Kim, the attorney, CERD
ultimately singled out the Daegu mosque conflict in its 2025 review as “‘the
most notorious example of Muslims being targeted by hate speech’ and dedicated
a separate section in its final observations to urging the government to
effectively mediate [the conflict] and promptly remove banners inciting
hatred.”
Ms. Kim explained, "CERD is taking this matter very seriously, to the point of creating a separate section like this… What's particularly noteworthy is the follow-up measure of requesting the submission of information on whether government-led mediation procedures have been implemented within one year (before May 7, 2026)." She emphasized, "This is the joint responsibility of the central government (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, etc.) and local government bodies. What is needed is mediation with all stakeholders gathered at the table along with experts on racial discrimination and interpreters."
On claims that mosque opposition isn’t
discrimination
In her presentation at the forum, Sohoon Yi,
assistant professor in the Division of Global Korean Studies at Korea University,
analyzed the types of claims used to argue that opposition to the Daegu
mosque’s construction isn’t really racial discrimination.
The first is the claim that these are simply
resident complaints related to the construction of a multi-use facility.
Professor Yi countered, "You can't separate discriminatory thinking from
the complaints… Discriminatory perceptions triggered the complaints and delayed
efforts to resolve them."
She also emphasized that "the area boasts
relatively low rents and a high student population, offering numerous public
facilities, commercial facilities, convenience facilities, and so on.
Furthermore, it is a neighborhood that has an unusually high concentration of
religious facilities, with 14 religious facilities (Protestant, Catholic,
Buddhist, and fortune-telling based on Oriental philosophy)
within a 500-meter radius."
She continued, "The arguments presented as
grounds for opposition—such as 'terrifying collective rituals' [apparently a
fear-mongering way to describe Islamic worship practices], 'Muslim tyranny,'
and 'slumification'—are by common sense difficult to apply to the international
student community, which includes many graduate students… Such complaints are
triggered because of the presence of racist and xenophobic logic like 'they're
scary because their skin is dark.'"
At the forum, Professor Sohoon Yi gave a
presentation entitled, “On the Opinion that Mosque Opposition Isn’t
Discrimination: From a Racial and Immigration Studies Perspective.” This slide
is titled “The Opposition’s Agentivity” and shows various oppositional pieces
of media. (Photo credit: Ilda)
Professor Yi then addressed the claim that
‘Islam is not a race and therefore [opposition to the mosque is] not racist.’
She first clarified that “race is a modern construct and a historical and
social one, a result of collective imagination, and (in reality) has no biological
or genetic basis” and “race and the process of racialization are based on the
belief that distinction and difference are biological and also inherently imply
superiority and inferiority."
CERD has already made it clear that Islamophobia
is a form of racism, explaining that religious identity can lead to
racialization. Professor Yi pointed out, "In particular, the claim that
Europe’s ‘no-go zones’ (crime-prone areas) are due to Islam, a common form of
Islamophobia, is influenced by American conservative media, and despite
corrections and apologies, such reporting continues to be spread as fake
news." She added, "This is information spread by the global
far-right."
The third claim Professor Yi addressed, that the
mosque controversy constitutes ‘reverse discrimination’ against our own
citizens, was personally made by Bae Gwang-sik, the head of Buk-gu District.
Professor Yi pointed out that “such remarks not only undermine the neutrality
of the local government agency that’s supposed to mediate the conflict between
the mosque and opposing residents, but also deserve severe criticism given that
the illegality of the Buk-gu District Office's decision to suspend construction
has been exposed by a court ruling."
Professor Yi also addressed the ‘violation of
property rights’ complained of by residents opposing the plan. She said she had
conducted "research into whether the construction of a mosque would lower
land values" and concluded that there was "no evidence" to
support that. She pointed out that “(the value of) land surrounding the mosque
in Yongsan [in central Seoul], Korea's oldest and largest, has increased
enormously.” She further pointed out that "in fact, the [Daegu] mosque’s
side are the ones whose property rights are effectively being violated, through
the suspension of construction despite their having a building permit."
A country that puts off anti-discrimination
legislation fosters racism
Jeong Hye-shil, co-head of the South Korean
Coalition for Anti-discrimination Legislation, began her talk by saying,
"Despite the long history of racism in Korean society, we have yet to
enact an anti-discrimination law." According to Ms. Jeong, "The
government's failure to even stop using the [stigmatizing] term 'illegal alien'
and its continued delay in recommending the enactment of a comprehensive
anti-discrimination law are creating the perception among citizens that ‘we can
get away with continuing to racially discriminate.’"
Lee Wan, an activist with the Asian Human Rights
and Culture Alliance, also criticized the government's view that the problem
arises from a lack of public awareness, arguing that the environment that
creates the public’s perceptions must be improved. He added, "[National]
health insurance premiums for foreigners are generating a huge surplus (8
consecutive years of surplus, and last year recorded the largest surplus ever
at 943.9 billion won [642 million USD]), but the government is not properly
publicizing this, leading the public to believe fake news that 'foreigners are a
financial drain on the country.'" Mr. Lee emphasized "the principle
that hate speech should be called hate speech, and racism should be called
racism."
Kim Tae-eun, an investigator at the National
Human Rights Commission of Korea's Discrimination Remedy Bureau who
participated in the forum as a panelist, confessed, "I feel guilty and
frustrated that the commission hasn't been able to take a step forward over the
past five years." Ms. Kim suggested that the Ministry of Justice and local
government organizations needed to make more of an effort: "Beyond legal
regulations, the Buk-gu District Office and Daegu City need to study how
communities can understand each other and live together through
self-regulation, operate programs to encourage this, and create opportunities
for gathering together."
Jeon Hyeon-shin, deputy director of the
Department of Justice’s Human Rights Policy Division, said, "We feel
tremendous pressure regarding CERD's final opinion," and added,
"Because of the demand to report on the Daegu Muslim mosque issue within a
year, I think it’s possible that a comprehensive review will be conducted at
the central government level to ensure the implementation of a final
resolution." He continued, "We will conduct research into improving
anti-racist legislation and seek to allocate specific roles to central and
local government bodies in order to improve communication and the implementation
[of CERD’s demands]."
The immigrant and foreigner population in our
society is growing and will continue to do so in the future. Serious steps to
promote coexistence are needed. Panelists at this National Assembly forum
emphasized that the Daegu mosque conflict is not simply a civil complaint
dispute but a racial discrimination issue, and urged the government to take
proactive steps to resolve the issue.
*Original article: https://www.ildaro.com/10293
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