Sim Sang-jung Visits Seoul and Gyeonggi, Focuses on People with Disabilities and Small Business Owners

Visited the Disabled Mobility Rights Protest at Seoul Station on the 23rd: "We Will Create a Society Where Disabled People Can Live with Dignity"
Representing the Voices of the Vulnerable While Visiting Mapo Mangwon Market, Gyeonggi Anyang Jungang Market, Siheung Sammi Market, and Bucheon Nambu Station Plaza

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Sim Sang-jung, the presidential candidate of the Justice Party, continued her campaign targeting the Seoul metropolitan area on the 23rd, following the first weekend of official election activities. She focused on visiting protest sites for the mobility rights of people with disabilities and markets densely populated by small business owners and self-employed individuals, aiming to embrace marginalized groups and socially vulnerable people affected by COVID-19 prevention measures and to appeal for voters' support.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the morning of the same day, Candidate Sim visited the site of the 'commute subway protest' for the mobility rights of people with disabilities at Seoul Station, which had decided to suspend the protest, and promised, "I will do my best not only to secure the budget for the mobility rights of people with disabilities but also to create a society where housing rights and labor rights are properly guaranteed, and where people with disabilities can live with dignity."

Following Candidate Sim's promise to guarantee the mobility rights of people with disabilities and her visit on this day, the National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Jeonjangyeon), which had been continuing the subway station protests during the morning commute for 21 days, decided to stop the protests as of today. On the 21st, during a TV debate, Candidate Sim used the last remaining minute to introduce those protesting for the budget for the mobility rights of people with disabilities. She said, "As a presidential candidate, I am very sorry," and added, "Now, please focus on ending the protests and becoming an advanced country for disability rights."

On this day, Candidate Sim said, "When the rights and lives of socially vulnerable people improve, that becomes a safety net for all citizens and leads South Korea to a better society." She criticized candidates Lee Jae-myung, Yoon Seok-youl, and Ahn Cheol-soo, saying, "Compared to the numerous budgets for populist pledges, the budget secured for the mobility rights of people with disabilities is really just a few coins." She added, "I will continue to urge these candidates to promise budgets for disability rights in the remaining TV debates."

Candidate Sim plans to prioritize the 'budget for guaranteeing the rights of people with disabilities' as one of the policy pledges to be jointly promoted by the candidates. She emphasized, "I thought progressive parties had done their best for 20 years, but my heart ached thinking that the changes in life we achieved are only this much," and added, "It has become clearer where politics needs to focus now."

After addressing the rights of people with disabilities, Candidate Sim plans to visit Mapo Mangwon Market in Seoul, Anyang Jungang Market in Gyeonggi, Siheung Sammi Market, and Bucheon Nambu Station Plaza in the afternoon to listen to the voices of socially vulnerable people. While her regional campaign messages focused on labor and green transition, her metropolitan area campaign appears to focus on small business owners and the self-employed. Candidate Sim promised to hand over 'Sim Sang-jung's microphone' to market merchants and citizens on site, including small business owners and self-employed individuals who suffered the most during the COVID crisis but were not protected by the government and for whom the government did not take public responsibility, pledging to listen to the erased voices in this presidential election.

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