HRW claim that since the end of the military dictatorship at the time of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea has been an open society with an active yet polarised discussion of human rights.

There are frequent protests and marches, it is suggested, including the ones that toppled the Park Geun-Hye Government.

Human rights concerns, detailed in HRW’s 2018 World Report, include promoting and protecting workers’ rights, ensuring respect for human rights for people living with HIV, and combating anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) discrimination in the military and society.

Also mentioned is overturning punitive abortion laws that endanger women’s lives and reforming draconian criminal defamation laws long used to silence groups and publications critical of the Government.

It is claimed the Government should also end harassment of trade union leaders and the mis-use of national security laws.

"As the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics open, the world is watching South Korea," Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW, said.

"President Moon Jae-In, a former student activist and human rights lawyer, is uniquely positioned to take up human rights as a central platform of his administration and accelerate needed rights reforms."

HRW claim that in South Korea, trade unionists face obstacles to advocating fair pay and safety for workers, and many remain imprisoned.

It added that in the preparation for Pyeongchang 2018, there were reports that workers involved in building Olympic sites and infrastructure had not been paid, and of three deaths on Olympic construction sites.

A delegation of 400 North Koreans is due to be present at Pyeongchang 2018.

This includes a 22-strong team that is set to compete and march alongside South Korea under the Unification flag at tonight's Opening Ceremony.

Among them is 12 athletes that will be part of a unified Korean women's ice hockey team.

HRW claims that North Korea's presence "provides a significant opportunity to review the country’s human rights situation" and "spotlight the need for concrete improvements" in the lives of its long-suffering people.

"South Korea’s decision to participate with North Korea in the Opening Ceremony under a Unification flag and create a joint women’s ice hockey team is a significant development," Adams added.

"But the collaboration should be used to direct world attention toward remedying the abusive situation of North Korea’s people, not just to benefit Kim Jong-Un’s propaganda machine."

In December of last year, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach outlined the body's strategy towards human rights issues in countries hosting the Olympic Games. 

Speaking at the Sporting Chance Forum in Geneva, Bach claimed the IOC will "always do its utmost to uphold and defend the values that the Olympic Games are based on".

It follows the specific incorporation of human rights principles into its Host City Contract for the first time for Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028.

Bach claimed it is not the IOC's responsibility to act like a world Government and refuse to host events in countries accused of human rights abuses.

He insisted, however, it can still signal its opposition and use the Olympics as a catalyst for improvement.

The IOC has frequently been criticised for human rights issues and has been accused of not doing enough.

This was particularly so before Sochi 2014 and Beijing 2008, where parts of the Olympic Torch Relay were overshadowed by Tibetan rights protests.

Concerns were also raised before Rio 2016 over the demolition of houses to make way for new Games-related infrastructure.