The head of the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights has expressed concerns about the South Korean government’s plan to downsize the nation’s government agency on human rights.

ICC Chairwoman Jennifer Lynch said in a letter to Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan that South Korea’s National Human Rights Commission was rated an “A-level” agency by the ICC in 2004 and that the ICC hopes the commission will live up to its expectations.

She said the South Korean agency is expected to serve as the chair of the ICC for three years starting in 2010, but that the nomination could be scrapped if the South Korean agency is downsized.

Lynch added that the South Korean National Human rights Commission has been a role model for other countries.