From 25 March to 12 April 1987, the ICJ sent a Mission to South Korea to examine the March 1981 Constitution and the controversy over the electoral laws in the light of the forth-coming elections.
The Mission was also asked to enquire into recent developments in the field of human rights, with special reference to the emergency powers of the government including the security laws and their application; powers to arrest and detain, and the treatment of detainees; the independence of judges and lawyers; the situation of students and academic freedom; and freedom of the press and freedom of expression.
The three members of the Mission were: Mr Francisco B. Cruz, a practising lawyer in Bacolod City, the Philippines, and a member of the Legal Aid Office of the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Bacolod and of the Free Legal Assistance Group; Mr Stephen A. Oxman, partner in a New York-based law firm and member of the board of directors of the American Association for the ICJ and of the Legal Aid Society of New York. From 1977 to 1980, Mr Oxman served in the US Department of State as special assistant and then as executive assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State and thereafter as a Consultant to the Secretary of State; Professor Otto Triffterer, a German specialist in Comparative Criminal Law and Professor at the University of Salzburg, Austria.
South Korea-emerging politics-fact finding mission report-1987-eng (full text in English, PDF)