The International Human Rights Clinic was founded in March 2010

The International Human Rights Clinic was officially founded in March 2010 under the leadership of Professor K.S. Park (full name: Kyung Sin Park). In its initial phase from 2010 through 2022, the Clinic conducted the Doe-v-Unocal type lawsuit against POSCO International (formerly known as DAEWOO International) in a Korean court of law on behalf of Arakanese farmers on Kyaukphyu Island whose lands were acquired by POSCO under the coercion of the military government to build the gas terminal for the Shwe gas field.  Although several on-site investigations of the Clinic through 2010-2015 yielded a star witness (a former military official) willing to testify the coercive and involuntary nature of the 2009-2010 land transfer, COVID19 and the 2021 February military coup shut down the border, making it impossible to bring the witness on stand in Seoul.  However, when the Clinic exposed the financial contribution from POSCO's gas field to the Myanmar military's slush fund, fueling the near permanent military dominion on the country, POSCO approached the Clinic with a substantial offer.  The deal did not go through due to disagreement on who will administer the fund.  Although the Korean courts refused to allow video testimony and ultimately ruled against the plaintiffs, European Union sanctioned Myanmar Oil and Gas Company, the conduit of POSCO's money to the military junta in 2022.   

Since 2023, the Clinic has been conducting on-ground lobbying on digital authoritarianism in Southeast Asia through United Nations human rights bodies such as UN Human Rights Committee, UN Human Rights Council, UN Special Rapporteurs for Free Expression, and the one for Privacy.  The Clinic has collaborated with digital rights organizations in Korea (e.g., Open Net) and Southeast Asia (e.g., Southeast Asian Freedom of Expression Network, Legal Initiative for Vietnam) to advocate on the issues of state censorship and surveillance of public discourse, defamation laws, and regulations on anonymity in Indonesia, Vietnam, and South Korea, using the various fora such as the ICCPR reviews in Geneva, the 2023 Seoul Summit for Democracy, and UNSR's visits to Korea in 2019 and 2025 respectively.  The Clinic's lobbying is linked specifically to recommendations in Concluding Observations and the final output report of UPR and also UNSR's formal communications.  The Clinic continues to receive requests for lobbying assistance for other Southeast Asian countries.