By Na Jeong-ju, Park Si-soo
Staff Reporters
Hyun Byung-chul, president of Hanyang Cyber University, has been named the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), sources at Cheong Wa Dae and the NHRC confirmed Thursday.
The government said Hyun was the right man to make South Korea better at protecting human rights, but human right activists were skeptical, citing a lack of knowledge and experience.
The appointment came nearly a week after former Chairman Ahn Kyong-hwan resigned four months before the end of his term in protest of the Lee Myung-bak administration's downsizing of the organization.
``Hyun has shown great performances in managing organizations fairly and stably,'' a presidential spokesman said. ``We believe he will largely contribute to stabilizing operations by resolving conflicting issues in a peaceful fashion.'' The 65-year-old chairman is said to be politically neutral with no strong political ties to President Lee.
He is reportedly a close aide to Kim Chong-yang, president of Hanyang University.
Prof. Kwak Noh-yun of Korea National Open University said, ``As a law professor, he may have basic knowledge about human rights. But I don't think he is well-prepared to take this job.'' Kwak, the former NHRC secretary general, added Hyun has neither engaged in campaigns on human rights protection at home or abroad nor specialized in human rights issues.
Hyun graduated from the Law School of Wonkwang University in North Jeolla Province and served as secretary general and vice chairman of the Korea Law Professors Association in Seoul. He has been the chairman of Hanyang Cyber University, an Internet unit of Hanyang University, since March 2006.