More on non-citizens’ rights in South Korea

With the development of globalization processes and growth of transnational mobility, the gap in democracy faced by non-citizens is increasing, and therefore, discriminatory attitude towards them requires justification in the light of both international and constitutional law. We believe that inclusion of the standards of international human rights in the internal constitutional legal order will allow building harmonious and complementary relations between human rights, democracy and constitutional control. Internationally recognized human rights must be ensured everywhere, regardless of the place of residence or presence. We suggest that the system of constitutional control will reduce the democratic gap between those who have political membership and those who are subject to the law. After all, when the national system of constitutional control is attached to cosmopolitan moral values through the practice of interpreting rights, people who have universal human rights, but do not have the right to political representation, can get a legal opportunity to defend their rights and equal moral dignity. Thus, the democratic deficit can be reduced without necessarily granting formal political membership (citizenship or the right to election) to all non-citizens.