Deep divisions over care policy for the disabled were on display in Seoul on Monday, as rival groups held separate protests during events marking Korea's Day of People with Disabilities.
The divide has widened among disability advocates, families and religious groups that operate facilities, intensifying amid recurring deaths and abuse cases in residential care, even as the country still lacks sufficient community-based infrastructure.
The Korean Parents’ Network for People with Disabilities, a civic group advocating a shift in Korea’s disability welfare system from subsidizing residential facilities to supporting community-based living, staged a “full-body prostration” protest in front of the National Assembly in central Seoul — a ritual in which participants lie flat on the ground.
The group called for a comprehensive government investigation into abuse in disability care facilities and urged their eventual closure.
In contrast, the Parents’ Association of Residents with Disabilities and facility operators held a separate protest Monday, urging the government to guarantee the right of people with disabilities and their families to remain in residential facilities.
They argued that people with disabilities, as agents of their own lives, should have the right to choose to live in facilities that provide comprehensive support.
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