Democratic Party: "Lee Jun-seok Distorts the Essence of Disability Discrimination... The National Assembly Will Find Its Role"

Park Hong-geun "People with Disabilities and Families Bear Responsibility... System Improvement and Budget Securing"

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 21st and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] As Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, sharpens his criticism toward the National Solidarity of the Disabled, accusing them of "taking citizens' inconvenience hostage," the Democratic Party leadership held a meeting with the National Solidarity of the Disabled on the 29th. The Democratic Party leadership condemned Lee for inciting conflict and hatred against vulnerable groups.

Park Ji-hyun, Co-Chair of the Emergency Committee, bowed and apologized, saying, "The reason disabled people had to protest despite their physical difficulties is entirely because our politicians have been negligent." She added, "However, there are those who keep stirring up conflict instead of trying to solve the problem," and directly criticized, "The leader of the ruling party, the People Power Party, called the disabled protests 'a protest taking Seoul citizens hostage,' which is an inappropriate remark that distorts the essence of discrimination against the disabled."

She continued, "It is truly wrong to pit subway users against disabled people. It is a problem that the government and political circles, which fail to guarantee even the basic rights stipulated by the constitution, should take responsibility for, but they are shifting the blame onto the discriminated disabled," and said, "The National Assembly will immediately find out what needs to be done first."

Park Hong-geun, Floor Leader, also emphasized, "The issue of disabled people is clearly not something that can be solved solely by individual will, family efforts, or surrounding volunteer work." He promised, "As candidates pledged during the last presidential election, we will establish a policy service decision-making system centered on disabled persons themselves."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Floor Leader Park said, "We will expand income security, job opportunities, and educational chances for disabled people. In particular, we will implement a national responsibility system for developmental mental disabilities," adding, "We will improve the system so that the responsibilities that disabled persons and their families have borne so far can now be properly shared by the state and society, and we will strive to secure the necessary budget."

Choi Hye-young, a lawmaker with a spinal cord injury, strongly criticized Lee, saying, "He is even drawing a line against his own party’s disabled lawmakers’ participation in subway protests and expressions of concern." She expressed worry, "I am concerned that going forward, the government might operate by inciting conflict and hatred over issues with differing opinions and suppressing voices demanding basic rights."

In response, Kwon Dal-ju, Co-Chair of the National Solidarity of the Disabled, said, "It is very regrettable that disabled people have become targets of such hateful criticism," and requested, "Please ensure that related laws can be amended as soon as possible." After the meeting, spokesperson Jo Oh-seop told reporters, "There were demands to establish a National Disability Committee directly under the president, as well as requests for the enactment of the Disability Deinstitutionalization Support Act and the Disability Rights Protection Act," adding, "There was a statement hoping that the Democratic Party would take responsibility and push these forward as if they were party policy."

He said, "Kim Sung-joo, the ruling party’s secretary of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, attended the meeting and responded that he would do his best to reflect these issues in legislation and budget matters."

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