[LETTERS TO THE EDITOR] Fuel taxes hurt the disabled

The higher taxes recently levied on LPG fuel will supposedly be used for a welfare fund for disabled people. In addition, disabled drivers will be exempt from part of the tax when they show the registration card for the disabled that is now both a welfare card and a credit card. The new tax policy can lessen the financial burden on disabled people.

But there will be no tax reduction for those who drive a diesel vehicle. While the drivers of cars with more than 2,000 cubic centimeters engine displacement would get a tax exemption, the drivers of small trucks that use diesel fuel will get no tax exemption at all.

The new policy goes against equity and does not help those who desperately need help; small truck drivers are usually poor, and they need tax breaks more than anyone else. Disabled people are already discriminated in Korea, and the new policy is worsening the discrimination. I hope the government will look into this ridiculous inequity.

by Lee Jonh-hyeon Icheon, Gyeonggi province