Contestations over rights: from establishment to implementation of the National Basic Livelihood Security System in South Korea

Abstract

International human rights are implanted in specific social, political and cultural contexts within which the rights are interpreted and contested by different social actors. This contribution examines contestations over the right to social security in South Korean society through the example of a social assistance system. It draws attention to how the state had long promoted an individual and familial duty of welfare support, and how South Korean non-governmental organisations (NGOs) utilised human rights language to enhance state welfare responsibility. It then examines how legal rights are interpreted, administrated, and contested at the micro level through interactions among different actors, such as claimants and welfare officials.