Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Ruling party head slammed for disparaging disabled
Rep. Lim Jae-hun of the Bareunmirae Party, center, with members of groups of the disabled, criticizes ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Hae-chan's remarks disparaging the disabled, during a press briefing at the National Assembly, Thursday. / Yonhap
By Kim Rahn
By Kim Rahn
Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Hae-chan is under fire for disparaging the disabled ― again. He has apologized, but the criticism continues.
In a YouTube clip on the party's official channel, Wednesday, Lee said people with innate disabilities were weak-willed. He said people without disabilities were “normal.”
Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Hae-chan. / Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun
“It is said people born with disability are rather weak-willed because they have been like that since they were young,” he said. “But in the case of people becoming disabled from accidents after growing up, they know the normal life they used to have.”
The comment was made while Lee was talking about Choi Hye-young, a professor invited to join the party ahead of the April 15 general election. Choi, 41, was a ballerina hopeful until she was in a car accident in 2003 and paralyzed. She then studied social welfare, obtained master's and doctor's degrees related to the subject and has been working to improve awareness of the disabled.
As criticism rose over the remarks, the DPK removed the clip from its channel. Lee also issued a statement apologizing to the disabled. He said he had quoted a psychologist but the quotation was improper because it hurt many disabled people.
He faced questions about the comment during a press conference at the National Assembly Thursday. He apologized again, saying he did not intend to offend the disabled. But as questions continued, he said, “I won't talk about it anymore.”
In 2018 Lee made another comment disparaging the mentally challenged.
“Who is more pathetic than physically disabled people … in the political arena, I see many mentally disabled politicians who make abnormal remarks,” he said at an event where disabled DPK members gathered.
Groups of disabled people strongly denounced Lee, demanding he resign as head of the party.
“If the lives of the country's 2.5 million disabled people are abnormal, it is not because of the individuals' lack of strong will, but because of the prejudice and discrimination from people like Lee who conclude their lives are abnormal,” the Korea Federation of Organizations of the Disabled said in a statement.
“He did three wrongful things to 2.5 million disabled people: he showed ignorance of and hatred toward disability; he disparaged people with innate disabilities and encouraged conflict between them and people with acquired disabilities; and he regarded disability as a hardship and individual misfortune that cannot be overcome.”