In 2004, GongGam started out as the first non-profit and full-time public interest lawyers’ organization in Korea, striving to defend the human rights of the most marginalized by providing access to justice for those whose voices often go unheard and whose presence unnoticed. GongGam is active in pushing for greater accountability for Korean corporations in their domestic and foreign business activities, as well as supporting victims of corporate human rights abuses. For example, together with other NGOs who are members of the Korean Transnational Corporations Watch, they have supported victims of human rights violations involving corporate activities by Korean companies, such as local communities affected by the POSCO-India steel project in Odisha, the Shwe Gas project in Myanmar and garment workers who were laid off and subjected to assault and kidnapping for having formed a trade union in the Philippine subsidiary of a Korean company. GongGam advocates for the realization of the social, economic and cultural rights of migrants and refugees through legislative lobbying and litigation. One major legislative achievement was the enactment of the Refugee Act in 2012, which was the result of years of advocacy by civil society organizations including GongGam. They have also conducted strategic litigation to advocate for the equal application of ESC rights to non-citizens.
