Seoul city agrees to meet with advocacy group for people with disabilites

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Seoul city agrees to meet with advocacy group for people with disabilites

Published: 26 Jan. 2023, 18:27

Members of the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD) hold signs urging the government to increase spending on mobility for disabled people in Hyehwa Station, central Seoul, on Wednesday morning. [NEWS1]

The city of Seoul announced on Thursday that it agreed to have a one-on-one meeting with the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD) on Feb. 2.

The agreement to meet follows Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's instruction to propose an unconditional one-on-one meeting to SADD to break the deadlock, according to the metropolitan government.

Up until Thursday, the two parties have failed to agree upon the conditions for their meeting, as the Seoul city government wanted it to be held jointly with other advocacy groups for people with disabilities, but SADD demanded a one-on-one meeting with Mayor Oh.

SADD resumed its subway protests on Jan. 20, after seven previous attempts by Seoul city and the civic group to coordinate a meeting since Jan. 4 all ended in vain.

SADD also announced that it is planning a large-scale protest around the end of March.

In a statement, Seoul city said that disputes over the conditions of the meeting should no longer cause discomfort to commuters, and the one-on-one meeting should be seen as a method to hear various public opinions to "move forward with the weak."

The metropolitan government plans to have relay meetings with other advocacy groups for people with disabilities as well.

SADD members have protested 82 times between Jan. 22, 2021, and Jan. 3, 2023, interrupting Seoul Metro's operation for a total of 84 hours. A total of 9,337 civil complaints were submitted due to the delays.

SADD protests involve its members in wheelchairs obstructing subway doors and halting its operations.

BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]