Korean Job Discussion Forums

[trigger123]

This is my second year in Korea, and over my time I've noticed a few odd things, (as I'm sure we all do), but last week I was in Seoul on the Subway and was reminded of something i feel isn't right...
As a crowd passed by on the steps leading to the entrance, you could just hear a tinny, musical ditty (not sure what it was, maybe 'You are my sunshine'?) in the distance. I slowed down to see what it was, expecting maybe a children's toy... it wasn't.
It was an adult, with a physical disability, sitting on an escalator seat, ascending the steep subway steps. He looked slightly embarassed, and didn't appear to be enjoying his journey. Some commuters looked on, but most pushed by as usual. It stuck me as an undignified way to treat a citizen, any non-disabled adult would feel foolish being accompanied with this soundtrack, so why should a disabled person?
I guess the music is there to alert passers-by to move, but to me, as a westerner, it appeared to patronise the individual. Like something from a Farrelly brothers film.
It made me think about how disability is viewed in Korea and what life here must be like for disabled individuals and communities. With my Tae Kwon Do school, I used to make a monthly visit to a local orphanage to teach them TKD. Every single child had a disability, and teachers told us the children were orphaned because of their disability. What level of social welfare is there for disabled people? Are Korean disabled people marginalised and segregated? How many disabled people have you seen in Korea? I don't recall seeing many people here at all.
I've never met a disabled EFL /ESL teacher, and my Korean is nowhere near fluent enough to talk to a Korean person with disabilities, but I'd be interested to hear how people feel about the issue.

[casey's moon]

I think about this a lot too. Actually, I've never seen anyone using one of those dealies at the subway. The fact that it plays tinny childlike music does sound like it would be very uncomfortable, but it probably doesn't feel as strange as it would at home. Koreans (god love them, I know I do) seem to find cutesy things cute rather than annoying. Still, I know what you mean.

My Korean husband has a disabled co-worker -- a public official. He's hilarious, seems quite normal and happy and even has a girlfriend. I'm guessing there aren't many like him, as it must be extremely frustrating to be in a wheelchair in this country. Even the brand new KTX isn't wheelchair friendly!!!

When my husband's relatives were looking at our wedding pictures, they were far more interested in the ����� (disabled person) on my husband's side than the ���� (black man) on my side. But they weren't rude about it -- just like, "Oh you have a disabled friend." I believe every single one of them had to point him out. Kind of child like...

But if you spend any time watching Korean TV, you'll see that disabled people are getting a lot of positive attention in the media these days. Lots of short documentaries showing their triumphs and struggles -- that sort of thing. Also the Special Olympics was covered in the news more extensively than I'd expected.

I also volunteered at an orphanage when I lived in Jeollabukdo, and there were a few down's syndrome kids and a few with slight lameness or something minor like that, but I was actually surprised how many perfect babies there were...

[Css]

Not been here too long but ive seen a few wheelchair bound koreans, they seemed to be getting on ok, going about their business normally..the ones i saw dont seem to get stared at or have people looking down on them..

The bar i went to last night was donating the nights takings to a handicapped charity which i thought was very nice..

[peppermint]

I have a couple of disabled friends in Canada, and they told me that those moving platform things are quite dangerous, cause the chair could roll off rather easily. Never mind that they're not useful to people with strollers, broken legs or in other circumstances better served by an elevator.

I think the attitude towards disability is getting better, slowly, but I see a lot of ramps to make the building "wheelchair friendly" that are either too narrow or too steep for wheelchairs , so maybe it's just lip service.

[trigger123]

Well I remain positive that attitudes are becoming progressively more positive, and i take the point that Korean adults have a different idea about whats cute and what isn't, so I guess maybe that escalator music was part of all that.
I do still wonder about accessibility though, Casey's Moon mentioned that the KTX train isn't disabled-friendly? Now I don't know whether this is the case for sure, but how a modern 21 Century country develop a new transport system thats not available for all? The subway, buses, commercial centres are poorly designed, but a new system shouldn't be.
Is it because there are no disabled people here, its not financially viable? No, I would suggest that its an example of society and its services disabling people, rather than the individual's disability being the prime issue. Therefore the reason you see few disabled people here is not because there are none, its because the country isn't designed for them.
I have never met a disabled EFL teacher in Korea, and I doubt, given how Hagwons recruit, (How old is he / she? Show me a photo... Is he handsome? etc) whether they would even be considered...
Unfortunately, 'brave/ hard -luck' documentaries on Korean TV don't really help disabled rights in this country a great deal. Addressing equality in areas such as transport and accessible services would.

[CalifasGirl]

I noticed music announcing someone's presence, but it wasn't always a disabled person. It was always a homeless person. I was only in Korea for two weeks, but I seemed to run into the homeless everywhere I went. Most of the time they played a song and held out a basket for donations. Many people ignored them, but I was surprised at how many did not. I'd say that Koreans seemed to hand out a few more coins than the Americans in California. I don't know how generous non-Californians are, though.

The most poignant incident was watching a husband and wife play the music as they held hands, walking through the subway train with their begging dish held out. Surprisingly, fewer people gave the couple coins than the single beggars who wandered the trains. The disabled man that I saw at Namdaemoon Market made me very sad indeed. He dragged himself by his hands, lying on a cart, since he had no legs.

[casey's moon]

Trigger, yeah I watched a news story about the KTX not being wheelchair accessible a few days after it opened. My husband and I were horrified, and the mood of the story was "How could we have let this happen?" I hope that since then they have found some way to remedy this obvious blunder, but I have not heard one way or another.

No, they would never hire a disabled person to teach English here. I'm sure it isn't easy for disabled people to work at all -- which is why a successful person like my husband's friend might opt to be a public official, rather than a company worker.

I'm not saying that documentaries are enough -- you're absolutely right. But I am happy to say that people are building compassion for disabled people, which is a positive step, definitely.

[sadsac]

This country is a long way from accepatnce of people with disability. They seem to have a greater compassion and understanding in rural areas than in the more metropolitan areas. The KTX is still wheelchair unfriendly and it is highly unlikely to be remedied. I had a friend back in Oz who was a para and she broke her leg. People could accept the fact of a broken leg and being wheelchair bound, than a para being wheelchair bound. She was amazed at the difference a cast made to how she was treated. Even the stupid pavers they use for pedestrian areas make using a wheelchair difficult. I have had the good fortune to share both buses and trains with people with an intellectual disability and have shared some wonderful moments with them. I sincerely hope attitudes do change.

[justagirl]

The university I worked at hires disabled teachers.

Right now they have one blind American teacher, and another in a wheelchair. One of their biggest programs is "rehabilitation," or working with handicapped people. They just got a huge grant (100's of millions) from the government to continue their program and build a new center specializing in it.

Many of the students were handicapped--at least 10% that I taught.

[casey's moon]

Just a girl, where do you work?

Good point about rural areas being more accepting -- I've noticed that too, but hadn't put my finger on it exactly.

I saw a girl in a wheelchair with a big heavy dog on her lap a few weeks ago while in Bundang. I wondered if the dog was because she felt so lonely down there in the chair and no one ever looked at her, or if it was to help people find her more approachable (works like a charm for me with my dog, sometimes too well) or if it was just a pet like anyone else's pet. The dog seemed way too big to be on her lap all the time, though!