Korea is praised as a model country for the development of democracy and the promotion of human rights among Asian and third world countries. The number of times that democratization forces and human rights activists from Asian countries come to Korea to learn about the development of democracy and the promotion of human rights in Korea is also increasing. The high evaluation that Korea receives in political development following economic development has led Korean researchers to go beyond Korea and increase interest in Asian countries' democratization movements and human rights issues.
The research on <Democracy and Human Rights in Asia> is divided into two teams. The subject of Team 1 is about the history and reality of state violence perpetrated in Asia. Team 2 deals with participatory democracy. At first glance, the issue of state violence handled by Team 1 and the problem of participatory democracy handled by Team 2 may seem completely different topics. However, our team sees the two themes as inextricably linked. The two are inseparable from the fact that participatory democracy emerged as a response to the limitations of representative democracy, and that state violence often arises in the process of struggles for the participation and empowerment of the people. In particular, we should pay attention to the fact that the scope and role of participatory democracy will gradually increase due to the expansion of the local self-government system in each country, the revitalization of the labor movement, and the development of electronic and communication means.

- From <the General remark>-