Kyung Seok Park refuses to wait any longer for the rights of people with disabilities to be fully recognized in South Korea. Despite facing violence and harassment, he continues to fight so people with disabilities can live freely and fully in South Korea. Help him take action now.
Kyung Seok never really thought about people with disabilities until he became one himself. Following an accident in his twenties, he developed paraplegia and now uses a wheelchair. Used to studying, playing guitar, and having fun with friends, Kyung Seok attempted to rejoin society, but he soon found life in his country as a person with a disability is not only difficult, but life threatening. Undaunted, he began a new life as an activist for the rights of people with disabilities.
Kyung Seok’s activism focuses on public transport. In South Korea, access to public transport for people with disabilities is very difficult, and people who use wheelchairs have been injured and even killed when using unsafe equipment at stations. Without government funding to improve public transport access, people with disabilities are cut off from fully participating in all aspects of public life, like travelling to a job or living independently.
Alongside fellow activists from Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, Kyung Seok took part in peaceful protests during commuter hours, demanding an increase to the public budget for the rights of people with disabilities.
Authorities reacted with unlawful force, including by dragging peaceful protesters out of trains and stations. Seoul Metro also filed multiple punitive lawsuits against them, portraying activists as a public nuisance. In January 2024, 400 people with disabilities lost their jobs after the Seoul metropolitan government cut all funding for a programme that allowed agencies to hire them.
Kyung Seok himself was strangled by the police and a Seoul Metro employee during a protest. Despite facing abuses, multiple lawsuits and smear campaigns, Kyung Seok continues to fight.
Sign the petition and join Kyung Seok in demanding the mayor of Seoul protect the rights of people with disabilities, including their right to peaceful assembly, so that no one gets left behind.