English Posts — 국제전략센터/The International Strategy Center

Towards A Society For All: Korea’s Disabled People’s Movement

The 2004 campaign to abolish discrimination against the disabled (through the Seoul subway and bus occupations) was able to achieve the installation of elevators to 90% of Seoul’s subways. Nonetheless, disability access to buses, taxis, and subway platforms is still lacking. As the Republic of Korea's constitution states, "all must be equal before the law." However, discrimination against race, LGBTQQ and disabled people still exists. On May 21, the International Strategy Center invited to our Progressive Forum Park Kyung-seok, co-President of the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, to hear about the history, achievements and tasks ahead for the disabled people’s struggle for mobility. This May Progressive Forum was co-organized by the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination and the Korea Disability Forum, and co-hosted with the Democratic Socialists of America Disabilities Working Group and the Justice Party's International Progressive Politics Forum. Below is a summary of the conversation.

International Strategy CenterMay 30, 2022Korea’s Disabled People’s Movement

The Struggle Never Ends - The Apr. 20 Protests Against Disability Discrimination

"The movement for disability rights in Korea has been full-fledged since the 2001 struggle for the right to mobility. That year, the death of a person on a wheelchair after falling off a subway station lift sparked fierce protests and struggles demanding elevators at subway stations and low floor buses. Activists chained themselves to subway tracks and placed themselves in front of buses. The movement fought, often enduring insults, to expose society’s hypocrisy and change a society centered on the non-disabled towards one in which no one is marginalized."

Korean News, Policy ResearchInternational Strategy CenterMay 12, 2022disability rights