Busan citizens experience a day in the shoes of the disabled

Participants in the “disabled person’s experience” event held by the Citizens‘ Solidarity for Participation of Busan and Solidarity Against Disabled Discrimination’s Busan chapter are unable to move their wheelchairs over the high curb and onto the sidewalk in the Yeonje district of Busan on Apr. 15. (by Kim Young-dong, Busan correspondent)

“This society doesn’t look out for people who have difficulty getting around”

In advance of the upcoming Disabled Persons Day on April 20, Citizens' Solidarity for Participation of Busan and Solidarity Against Disabled Discrimination’s Busan chapter held a ‘disabled person’s experience’ event on April 15 in which citizens could complete a circuit that finished at Busan District Court and Busan District Prosecutors' Office.

About 60 citizens in wheelchairs or who had been blindfolded and given walking sticks departed from Geoje Station. They were immediately faced with an uphill road. Those in wheelchairs began to grunt with the strain, and their faces turned red. One section of sidewalk next to Geoje Station was only 1m wide. “Thank goodness it’s Sunday so there aren’t too many people,” one participant muttered.

Busan citizens taking part in the “disabled person’s experience” pass in front of the Busan Central District Court in the city’s Yeonje district on Apr. 15 (by Kim Young-dong, Busan correspondent)

When they attempted to cross a road, a succession of cars from Geoje-daero Road began to stream past. The citizens in wheelchairs tensed up as they had to tightly grip the wheels to remain stationary on the slope between the sidewalk and the pedestrian crossing. They were only able to cross the road after police officers volunteering for the event stepped out onto the road to halt the traffic. “You have to look out for cars, but being in a wheelchair that doesn’t always move the way you want makes it even more difficult,” said one official from Solidarity Against Disabled Discrimination. “In fact, crossing the road is easier than usual today because of the event.”

After crossing the 10m wide road, the participants had to deal with a 3cm high curb. They had to use the entrance to a parking lot in order to reach the sidewalk. Even after making it to the sidewalk, they had to navigate around numerous trees planted on the roadside. The sidewalk was uneven and sloped towards the road, causing one person in a wheelchair to almost fall into the road after sliding down. A citizen surnamed Kim (42), who was taking part in the event, was able to grab the wheelchair just in time to prevent an accident.

After traversing the pedestrian crossing in front of the prosecutor’s office, the participants had to cross another 2cm curb. Those in wheelchairs couldn’t get the wheels over it no matter how hard they pushed, only managing to reach the curb when another citizen helped to push from behind. “This society doesn’t look out for people who have difficulty getting around,” Mr. Kim complained.

A teenager taking part in the “disabled person’s experience” maneuvers a wheelchair onto a raised sidewalk in front of the Busan Prosecutor’s Office in the city’s Yeonje district on Apr. 15. (by Kim Young-dong, Busan correspondent)

On a 150m stretch of sidewalk between the prosecutor’s office and the courthouse, the 6m wide sidewalk did not have any braille in the center to help the visually impaired. Braille blocks come in two forms – lines and dots. The blocks with lines help to let blind people know the direction of the path, while the blocks with dots provide information such as the location of pedestrian crossings or forks in the road. This piece of sidewalk was missing blocks with lines, causing the blindfolded participants to walk towards walls or bump into trees. One of the two pedestrian crossings in front of the courthouse did not have an audio signal that indicated when it was safe to cross.

Go Seok-hee (27), an activist in the Busan chapter of Solidarity Against Disabled Discrimination’s Busan chapter, stated “When taking public transport to the courthouse or prosecutor’s office, the road has many curbs and a lot of uphill stretches. There are also a lot of obstacles in the way. When we speak of the ‘public,’ this has to include disabled people too.”

Choi Yeong-ae (76), who participated in the event, also had plenty to say. “I had no idea that disabled people face so many dangers when going to the courthouse or prosecutor’s office,” she said. “To create a society that works for everyone, we need facilities that can be used by every person. We need local governments to take action and make a commitment to improving the situation.”

Citizens' Solidarity for Participation of Busan and Solidarity Against Disabled Discrimination are expected to call for policies to improve this and guarantee the mobility rights of disabled people within the jurisdictions of administrations such as Yeonje-gu.

By Kim Young-dong, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [[e-mail]]