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| People line up to enter Lotte World in southeastern Seoul's Songpa District last May. Yonhap |
By Lee Yeon-woo
Disability advocacy groups have filed a complaint with the state human rights agency against Lotte World, saying the popular amusement park "compelled people with disabilities to be accompanied by guardians."
Disability advocacy groups, including Disability Discrimination Act Solidarity of Korea (DDASK) and People First Korea, held a press conference, Wednesday, in front of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) to accuse Lotte World of discriminating against customers with disabilities.
"Lotte World is restricting customers with disability from rides unless they are accompanied by non-disabled guardians, just because they have disabilities," the groups said.
The refusal of service has been also applied when using the Magic Pass Premium, a service from the amusement park which allows customers to bypass lines for rides by paying an additional fee.
According to the DDASK, many people with disabilities have called its hotline to report their experience of being refused service at Lotte World.
"Jungle Adventure is not a dangerous ride and doesn't even require a seatbelt. I took the ride in 2003 and 2009, but have been refused since 2017," said Kwak Nam-hui, an activist with visual impairments who works for Nodl Center for Independent Living.
She reported, "I was in the line for Magic Pass holders to ride a spinning swing. But they told me to line up in the non-holders' line if I am not with a (non-disabled) guardian. So I waited an additional 30 minutes."
The groups requested the NHRCK to recommend Lotte World stop requesting people with disabilities to be accompanied by guardians and to provide its employees with human rights education on disabilities.
