◀ Anchor ▶
A group for the disabled, which is in conflict with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, has been protesting on the subway again since yesterday.
Afterwards, they marched while occupying the downtown lanes and stayed homeless at City Hall Station, continuing the protest for 2 days and 1 night.
This is reporter Ji Yoon-soo.
◀ Report ▶
The platform at City Hall Station on Seoul Subway Line 1.
When members of a disabled group try to board the train, police and subway sheriffs stop them.
Members of the National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against the Disabled held a subway ride protest that resumed after two months.
Members who could not get into the car gathered at the platform and staged a propaganda campaign, and were blocked again while trying to set up a tent for a sit-in.
[서울교통공사 관계자]
″You are installing facilities illegally. Please vacate immediately.″
Jeon Jeon-yeon, who temporarily suspended the boarding protest at the end of last January, also met with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon early last month.
However, tensions between the two sides began to flare up again this month.
When the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it would check all recipients of disability activity support benefits, Jeon Jeon-yeon protested.
The city of Seoul supports activity benefits with its own budget in addition to the government subsidy, and a total investigation was conducted on about 3,000 recipients to determine whether they were recipients of illegal benefits.
[서울시 관계자]
″It is because it is suspected that the recipient only moved the address to Seoul and actually lives in the province, and confirmation is needed.″
On the other hand, Jeon Jeon-yeon opposes, ″The national pension is already supported by the information on recipients secured by the National Pension Service, but the reason why the Seoul Metropolitan Government is conducting a “double investigation” is to kill a specific group.”
[박경석/전국장애인철폐연대 상임대표]
″We are already updating the national pension every three years. It’s something we investigate every now and then.”
Jeon Jeon plans to continue the sit-in, including demonstrations on Line 1, until the 20th of next month, the Day of the Disabled.
However, tensions between the two sides are rising again, with Mayor Oh Se-hoon suggesting a tough response policy, saying, “I will correct illegal acts.”
This is Ji Yoon-soo from MBC News.
