Assemblyman Yoon Jae-gap: "Derogatory Expressions Against Disabled People Must Disappear from Agricultural Fields"

Published 13 Oct.2021 10:15(KST)

Personification of Seed Traits and Other Carelessly Used Derogatory Expressions Toward People with Disabilities

Democratic Party of Korea National Assembly member Yoon Jae-gap (Haenam·Wando·Jindo) ⓒ Asia Economy

[Haenam＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] According to data submitted by the Rural Development Administration to National Assembly member Yoon Jae-gap (Democratic Party, Haenam·Wando·Jindo) of the Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Maritime Affairs Committee, it has been revealed that the Administration has provided information services containing derogatory or inappropriate expressions toward people with disabilities to a considerable extent.

The Rural Development Administration has used derogatory expressions for people with disabilities, such as "mute," "cripple," and "fool," in seven major services commonly used by the general public and farmers, including ‘Nongsaro’, ‘Agricultural Science Library’, and ‘Farmer Health and Safety System’.

In this regard, in April, the head of the Disability Rights Law Center pointed out the use of derogatory expressions toward people with disabilities, such as "cripple millet," which are carelessly used in our agricultural fields, and the Administration conducted a self-inspection and corrected or deleted a total of 45 such instances.

However, it is a reality that native genetic resource names or scientific names (Latin names), which have been widely used for a long time as proper nouns, are still in use.

Assemblyman Yoon Jae-gap demanded, “In the future, if inappropriate terms are included in biological or scientific names related to genetic resources by academic societies or organizations, the Rural Development Administration should actively request changes.”