The 2014 Social Science Korea (SSK) International Conference on Human Rights was held in Korea University (KU) today. The venue for the conference was room 115 of the International Studies Hall from 9:30 AM to 4:40 PM.

Numbers of scholars from various universities participated at this conference. Along with KU, universities such as Sungkyunkwan University, Ewha Woman’s University, Harvard University, University of Michigan and Griffith University participated at the conference today.

As is the conference’s theme, “Reimagining Human Rights: From Diffusion to Practice”, the conference was organized into two parts, with the first part being titled “Human Rights Diffusion”, while the second part of the conference was named “Human Rights Practices”. The presenters spoke of their insights into the spread of human rights ideals into the globalizing world in the first part of the conference, and later discussed the effects of those ideals in a more practical level.

The focus of each part was divided into another two-part sessions. First sessions were about human rights in the world, while the subsequent sessions focused more on South Korean society and policies regarding North Korea.

“By showcasing recent research on human rights diffusion and practices, the SSK Human Rights Forum hopes to broaden perspectives on human rights and to bridge discourse, activities, and policy on human rights initiatives in Korea and abroad,” said Professor Changrok Soh (Graduate School of International Studies). Soh is the chair of The SSK Human Rights Forum, which is the organization that has been hosting the human rights conferences annually since 2010.

▲ From Diffusion to Practice, which is the theme for this year’s conference reflects the program of the conference very well. Provided by The SSK Human Rights Forum