The visually impaired react to a ruling awarding them the exclusive right to provide massage services during a rally at the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs in Gyedong, Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap |
By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
The Constitutional Court Thursday ruled that it is constitutional to allow only the blind the right to hold licenses to be massage therapists.
The ruling came as sports massage therapists made a petition, claiming they should be also given the right to the licenses and that the law is interfering with people's right to choose their occupation.
The Medical Law grants exclusive rights for the masseur license to the visually impaired.
``Given the insufficient welfare polices for the visually impaired, massage can be the only choice for them. Allowing the non-blind to get the masseur license can be a threat to their survival and the law aims to protect the socially weak,'' the court said in the ruling.
But the court advised lawmakers to prepare for advanced welfare policies for the blind.
The final decision was made as six out of nine justices ruled it is constitutional.
The ruling reversed an earlier ruling on the matter.
In 2006, the court ruled the law unconstitutional, saying it infringed on the basic rights for individuals to choose their profession.
But the blind soon launched a fierce demonstration, claiming the decision deprived them of their only viable means of living. Blind masseurs held a protest on the southern side of Mapo Bridge in Seoul, with four masseurs jumping off the bridge into the Han River and a further three committing suicide.
Facing a strong backlash, the government revised the Medical Law four months later, giving them almost the same exclusive rights despite the Constitutional Court's decision. Then, sports massage therapists filed a petition again.
According to the Korea Masseur Association, 13,000 among the nation's 250,000 visually impaired people are engaged in the massage business.
e3dward@koreatimes.co.kr
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김정은 軍에 선물도 父 답습…쌍안경·소총
