Korea Adopts UN Convention on Disabled
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The government has pledged to take every possible measure to guarantee the rights of people with disabilities. The Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities it signed two years ago comes into effect Saturday.
The convention obliges Korea to prevent all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse by ensuring appropriate forms of gender- and age-sensitive assistance and support for persons with disabilities and their families and caregivers. It includes the provision of information and education on how to avoid, recognize and report instances of exploitation, violence and abuse.
It will also make sure that disabled people are not excluded from the general education system on the basis of disability and that disabled children are not excluded from free and compulsory primary or secondary education.
To guarantee such people's right to work, the government will also take necessary steps to provide them with equal access to vocational education along with other programs. They will also be guaranteed the right to form labor unions of their own.
The ministry signed the Convention in 2007 and has implemented the Anti-Discrimination and Remedies for Persons with Disabilities Act, which came into effect last April. The act prohibits all kinds of discrimination and enacts harsher punishment, such as fines of up to 30 million won or up to three years in prison.
``We hope adopting the convention's spirit and executing the act will improve the image of Korea as a country that respects every human right,'' ministry spokesman Jeong Han-seong said.