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🇰🇷 South Korea /Culture & Society

Disability group meets minister, to decide on protests by Aug. 24

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • A disability rights group met with the Minister of Planning and Budget to request funding for disability rights in the next budget.
  • The group agreed to announce their decision on halting subway protests by August 24, following the minister's request.
  • The minister urged the group to stop disruptive protests, assuring them that disability budget requests are being carefully reviewed.

The National Federation of Persons with Disabilities (Jeonjangyeon) met with Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-geun to advocate for the inclusion of disability rights funding in the upcoming national budget. The meeting, held privately for about an hour, came after Minister Park publicly requested the group cease its disruptive "commute-hour subway boarding" protests.

We once again explained in detail the items requested as disability rights budget and spoke about their necessity.

— Park Kyung-seokJeonjangyeon representative Park Kyung-seok described the group's discussion with the Minister of Planning and Budget.

Park Kyung-seok, a representative for Jeonjangyeon, stated after the meeting that the group reiterated its requests for specific disability rights budget items and explained their necessity. He clarified that the meeting did not result in a budget agreement, but Minister Park indicated he would thoroughly review the group's demands. Jeonjangyeon plans to announce its official position regarding the resumption of subway protests on August 24, pending the Ministry's response on budget allocations.

We will decide our position on the request to stop the commute-hour subway boarding protests while waiting for the Ministry's response on budget reflection.

— Park Kyung-seokJeonjangyeon representative Park Kyung-seok explained the group's decision-making process regarding future protests.

Earlier, Minister Park had posted on Facebook, urging Jeonjangyeon to stop protests that disrupt the normal operation of subways and inconvenience commuters. He assured the group that he was personally and meticulously examining the disability rights budget requests. In response, Jeonjangyeon issued a statement asking the minister to consider the historical context of disability rights activism and the ongoing subway protests. They expect the government to fulfill its responsibility in ensuring disability rights are reflected in the 2027 budget proposal.

Please stop the protests that repeatedly cause damage and inconvenience to citizens' commutes by disrupting the normal operation of subways and buses.

— Park Hong-geunMinister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-geun urged the disability rights group to cease disruptive protests.

Jeonjangyeon had previously canceled its planned subway protests for the morning of August 19. The group has been conducting these protests during commute hours to demand budget allocations for disability rights. The decision to continue or halt further actions will be communicated on August 24.

I am examining the disability rights budget with more care than ever before.

— Park Hong-geunMinister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-geun assured the group that their budget requests were under careful review.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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