Speaking at the opening of the 1st Seoul Human Rights Conference on 5 December 2016, Congress Secretary General Andreas Kiefer said that “while it is state organs that ratify international human rights treaties, it is local authorities to a large extent which translate international obligations into practice''. “Human rights provisions do concern a considerable part of the daily tasks of local and regional authorities be it civil, political, economic, social or cultural rights”. He presented the Congress Human Rights Action Plan based on the preparatory work done by Congress members at the 2015 Graz Human Rights Conference and the work of the Monitoring Committee. The Republic of Korea has ratified four Council of Europe conventions and is a member of the Venice Commission (European Commission for Democracy through Law). Many speakers referred to the strong preventive effect of Council of Europe standards and highlighted the need for local politicians and administrations to contribute to the respect of human rights for the benefit of all. 

Video of the speech (start at 25:00') - Opening of the Conference
Conference website
Congress reference texts