TV Debate, Speakers and Interpreters to Watch... Busy Deaf Individuals

Despite Demands to Guarantee Voting Rights for Hearing-Impaired Voters... 'Sign Language Interpreters Assigned by Speaker' Still Pending

On the afternoon of the 21st, presidential candidates are taking a commemorative photo before the first debate hosted by the National Election Broadcasting Debate Commission for the 20th presidential election, held at the MBC Media Center Public Hall in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
From the left: Lee Jae-myung, presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea; Ahn Cheol-soo, presidential candidate of the People’s Party; Sim Sang-jung, presidential candidate of the Justice Party; Yoon Seok-youl, presidential candidate of the People Power Party.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Jeong-wan] The National Election Commission (NEC) stated that "sign language interpreters will be assigned for each speaker in the 2nd and 3rd debates" in response to criticism that it has been neglecting the voting rights of hearing-impaired voters. However, since the channels broadcasting these debates are only accessible to paid subscribers, there are calls for sign language interpreters to be assigned for each speaker on channels including terrestrial broadcasters as well.

During the first four-candidate presidential TV debate hosted by the NEC on the evening of the 21st, only one sign language interpreter was broadcast simultaneously. Previously, presidential candidate election broadcast debates were conducted with only one sign language interpreter, making it difficult for hearing-impaired viewers to identify which candidate was speaking, a criticism that has been consistently raised.

During the 19th presidential election, the disability rights group "People Breaking Down the Walls of Disability" raised this issue with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK), which also recommended "assigning two or more sign language interpreters during election broadcast transmissions."

People Breaking Down Barriers of Disability, including members of civic groups such as Wonsimhoe, held a press conference on April 14th in the afternoon in front of the National Human Rights Commission in Jung-gu, Seoul, demanding the placement of two sign language interpreters for election broadcast debates and addressing discrimination complaints regarding unfair sign language interpretation.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Nevertheless, the issue was not resolved during the April 7 by-election broadcast debates last year. Hearing-impaired organizations such as People Breaking Down the Walls of Disability, Wonshimhoe, and Sharing & Public Interest Platform Able-Up filed a discrimination complaint with the NHRCK, stating, "The problem of assigning only one sign language interpreter for extended periods during the April 7 by-election broadcast debates persists. It is often unclear which candidate is speaking, and the quality of interpretation is poor."

The same situation occurred during this year's 20th presidential election broadcast debates. In the joint TV debate hosted by KBS, MBC, and SBS on the 3rd of last month, and the TV debate hosted by six broadcasters under the Korea Journalists Association on the 11th, only one sign language interpreter was broadcast simultaneously.

Sign language interpreter Park Mi-ae said on MBC Radio's "Pyo Chang-won's News High Kick" on the 22nd, "This issue has been raised for well over ten years," adding, "There has been no change so far."

Park cited the TV debate hosted by the Journalists Association as an example, saying, "A hearing-impaired columnist wrote that it felt like watching the stepping stone game in Squid Game," and explained, "Because there was only one sign language interpreter, if you turn off the sound, you cannot tell who is speaking." She added, "When zoomed out to see all four candidates at once, you have no time to think about the content because you are busy figuring out which of the four is speaking."

Due to these issues, there have been repeated calls within the political sphere to increase the number of sign language interpreters assigned to presidential candidate TV debates.

On the 4th, Oh Seung-jae, spokesperson for the Justice Party's presidential campaign headquarters, said, "It is impossible for one sign language interpreter to convey all the discussion content when four candidates and the moderator are speaking simultaneously," adding, "It would have been better if the number of sign language interpreters was decided considering the characteristics of sign language." On the 10th, the Democratic Party's Youth Election Countermeasures Committee held a meeting to promote the assignment of sign language interpreters and demanded "sign language interpreters assigned for each candidate during TV debates."

In response to the NEC's delayed action, the political sphere has launched its own "sign language interpretation broadcast."

On the evening of the 21st, "Kim Kwang-jin TV," operated by Kim Kwang-jin, deputy head of the Democratic Party's campaign talent recruitment committee, provided real-time interpretation of the first presidential candidate debate held that day. Five sign language interpreters were assigned?one for the moderator and one for each of the four candidates?so that the debate could be viewed solely through sign language. However, due to copyright issues, it was difficult to broadcast the sign language interpretation screen and the TV debate video simultaneously.

Photo by YouTube channel 'Kim Kwangjin TV' capture

The NEC later announced that from the second TV debate on the 25th, sign language interpretation would be provided for each candidate, but this will also only be available through paid cable channels.

In a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 22nd, the Central Election Broadcasting Debate Commission said, "Two sign language interpreters were operated during the first TV debate. After about an hour, one was replaced by the other," and added, "For the 2nd and 3rd debates, sign language interpreters will be assigned for each speaker on the currently operated 'Bokji TV' (Welfare TV)."

However, since 'Bokji TV' is only accessible through paid cable TV or other subscription services, measures need to be devised to ensure hearing-impaired individuals can access their voting rights. Spokesperson Oh pointed out on the 4th, "The fact that the three broadcasters live-streaming the TV debates did not assign sign language interpreters for each candidate is also a clear limitation."

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