UN Special Rapporteur Mutuma Ruteere alerted South Korean authorities about the presence of serious racism in the nation, asking them to address the problem. 

In a news conference in Seoul on Monday, Ruteere said that it is pointless to compare South Korea with other countries in terms of racism, but there are serious cases of racism in the country.  

Wrapping up his week-long research on racism in South Korea, the UN special rapporteur noted that the nation has made significant progress in reducing racism and xenophobia in light of its long history of racial and cultural homogeneity.

He, however, raised issues with the limited notion of multiculturalism in South Korea as he pointed out that South Korea’s policy on multicultural families is restricted to foreign women married to Korean men. Noting that a marriage between two immigrants is not considered a “multicultural family,” he said relevant policies are limitedly carried out in South Korea and various Korean media spread negative images of those families.

Ruteere arrived in Korea on September 29 to inspect the country’s racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia. 

He plans to submit a report on the inspection results to the U.N. Human Rights Council next year. 

Ruteere is the first U.N. special rapporteur on racism and racial discrimination to visit South Korea.