Seoul City has issued a warning of strong legal action as Jeon Jang-yeon and around 10 activists from the National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination once morest Persons with Disabilities resumed their subway ride protest in City Hall Station on Subway Line 1. Mayor Oh Se-hoon has reaffirmed his hardline response to the demonstration and emphasized that illegal acts will be corrected. The protestors were unable to board the subway due to the intervention of the sheriff and the police. The city has stated that the subway must not stop under any circumstances and will take civil and criminal measures once morest any group that interferes with citizens’ way to work. This comes following Jeon Jang-yeon announced that they will resume subway protests due to targeted investigations by the city administration. On the same day, Mayor Oh shared an article on Facebook by a visually impaired jazz pianist and lecturer, Kang Sang-soo, who urged the mayor to stop the protests.
Attempt to board the line 1 bound for City Hall Station
Seoul city warns of strong legal action
While the National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination once morest Persons with Disabilities (Jeon Jang-yeon) resumed the subway ride protest in two months on the 23rd, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon reaffirmed his hardline response, saying, “I will definitely correct illegal acts.”
About 10 activists from Jeon Yeon-yeon held a press conference at 8:00 am on the platform of the upper line of City Hall Station on Subway Line 1 and attempted to board the subway at around 8:48 am. I mightn’t get on the subway because of the sheriff and the police. The previous day, Jeon Yeon-yeon announced that she would resume the subway protests, saying that Seoul City’s ‘all-in-one inspection of recipients of additional disabled activity support benefits in Seoul’ and ‘complete survey of disabled persons de-institutionalized’ were a ‘targeted investigation’ targeting Jeon Yeon-yeon. Jeon Jeon’s subway ride demonstration is the first in 62 days since the triangle region protest on January 20th.
On the same day, Mayor Oh shared an article by Kang Sang-soo, a visually impaired person who worked as a jazz pianist and lecturer on improving awareness of the disabled, on Facebook, saying, “According to what he said, an act that damages the perception of the disabled, which has been built with great effort, is not wise even from the standpoint of the disabled.” “(Jeon Jang-yeon’s) illegal activities will be corrected,” he said. In a post posted on Facebook the day before, Mr. Kang said that he had been helped by a station attendant every time he took the subway, and asked Mayor Oh to “stop Jeon Jeon’s protests to raise awareness of the dying disabled.”
On the other hand, the city issued admission materials on the same day as the previous day, and repeatedly stated that “the subway must not stop under any circumstances.” The city is in a position to take strong civil and criminal measures once morest any group that interferes with citizens’ way to work.
Reporter Jo Hee-sun
The ongoing subway protest led by Jeon Jang-yeon and her supporters has once once more prompted a hardline response from Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. Despite attempts from the activists to board the subway at City Hall Station on Line 1, the authorities stood firm, blocking their entry. The protest resumed following 62 days and centers around Seoul City’s investigation of recipients of additional disabled activity support benefits and a complete survey of deinstitutionalized persons with disabilities. As the city reiterates its stance once morest any interference with subway operations, it seems unlikely that the protesters’ efforts will lead to significant change. Nonetheless, the persistence of Jeon and her fellow activists in raising awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities is commendable, and hopefully, it will lead to more significant strides towards equality in the future.
