Disabled-Only Parking Spaces Unavailable Underground... Human Rights Commission Calls It "Discrimination Against Disabled"

Human Rights Commission: "Disabled People Should Be Allowed to Use Underground Parking According to Weather, Gender, and Personal Preferences"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has ruled that installing disabled-only parking spaces only on the ground level constitutes discrimination against people with disabilities.

The Human Rights Commission announced on the 10th that it recommended the Minister of Health and Welfare to reflect in relevant guidelines the requirement to install disabled-only parking spaces both on the ground and in underground parking lots, and to disseminate this to related agencies. This is to ensure that people with mobility impairments can use parking lots on an equal basis with those without disabilities.

Recently, a complainant filed a petition with the Human Rights Commission, claiming that not installing disabled-only parking spaces in the underground parking lot of an apartment complex with both ground and underground parking constitutes discrimination against people with disabilities.

In response, a representative of the apartment residents' association stated, "It is the responsibility of the construction company that did not install disabled-only parking spaces in the underground parking lot," while the construction company’s representative countered, "We installed the spaces only on the ground parking lot based on the judgment that people with disabilities prefer ground parking over underground parking."

The local county governor also supported this, saying, "The apartment complied with relevant ordinances and received approval for disabled convenience facilities, so there is no violation of related laws."

However, the Human Rights Commission’s Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities judged that, considering ▲ parking lots are communal facilities and people with mobility impairments should be able to use both underground and ground parking lots depending on weather, gender, and personal preference ▲ general parking spaces in underground lots are closer to entrances or elevator facilities accessible to people with disabilities ▲ people with mobility impairments find underground parking more convenient on rainy or snowy days compared to ground parking ▲ it is difficult to see any excessive burden or significant hardship in dispersing disabled-only parking spaces between ground and underground parking lots, the failure to install and provide disabled-only parking spaces in underground parking lots of apartments with both ground and underground parking constitutes an act that infringes on the constitutional right to equality.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.