[Side B] Yoon Jeong-gi, a Hearing-Impaired Person, "Studied for the Judicial Exam Alone for 20 Years... No Regrets"

A Proud Minority for a Better Non-Mainstream World

Yoon Jeong-gi, Part-Time Activist at Barrier-Free for the Disabled
Has Lived Long Correcting Pronunciation
Studied Alone for 8 Years After Passing the GED

Graduated from Law School and Prepared for the Bar Exam for 20 Years
Hopes Juniors Can Study in Better Conditions
Wishes for a Day with Sign Language Interpretation at the Blue House Press Center

The "Press Conference Urging Disaster and Infectious Disease Safety Measures for the Hearing and Visually Impaired" was held on the 18th of last month in front of the Blue House Fountain in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Activist Yoon is speaking in sign language. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] "When sign language interpretation was not provided, it was impossible to fully understand the severity of COVID-19. We could only guess the atmosphere through on-screen captions or the announcers' facial expressions. Sign language is an official language equal to Korean. I believe sign language interpretation should be provided in more places."

The first greeting was a question about the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Now, sign language interpreters appear alongside the regular COVID-19 briefings, which has been a great help. It took about a month after the briefings began for sign language interpreters to appear. Some broadcasters even removed the sign language interpreters from the screen, saying it was "not neat."

Fortunately, these days, the face and hands of the sign language interpreter can be seen on screen in actual size. In the past, sign language interpreters were always confined to a small oval on the screen. Deaf viewers, who had to receive information through the interpreter’s hands and facial expressions in that tiny space without captions, must have needed incredibly sharp eyesight.

I met Yoon Jeong-gi (54), a part-time activist of People Breaking Down Barriers for the Disabled (Jang-ae Byeok Heomulgi), at a cafe in Gangseo-gu. When Yoon spoke in sign language, Kim Cheol-hwan, a full-time activist of the same organization and a sign language interpreter, interpreted.

The "Press Conference Urging Disaster and Infectious Disease Safety Measures for the Hearing and Visually Impaired" was held on the 18th of last month in front of the Blue House Fountain in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Hearing-impaired activist Yoon Jeong-gi is speaking in sign language. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

While signing, Yoon pronounced words accurately. He said, "My pronunciation could be inaccurate, so I have lived correcting my pronunciation for a long time. I learned words by watching mouth shapes since I was young, so I am used to correcting my pronunciation, but I still feel a sting every time I get corrected." Although he wrote exactly what he saw, there were often cases where people said it was "wrong." A representative word is 'Hallasan.' People’s mouth shapes showed 'Hallasan,' but the Korean spelling was 'Hallasan.'

With his mother’s active support, Yoon graduated from regular elementary and middle schools and entered high school. However, he dropped out because it became too difficult during high school. He later entered a school for the deaf and learned sign language, but even that was hard to adapt to, so he quit. Although he learned sign language late, the school for the deaf did not allow him to do what he wanted. Once, during career counseling at the school, he said he wanted to major in physics, but was told it would be difficult for deaf students to enter. The teacher said, "You have to do experiments, but it’s dangerous because you can’t hear." When he asked why not theoretical physics as well as experimental physics, the answer was just "Give up." At that time, Yoon’s dream was to become a physicist.

Choosing to take the qualification exam, Yoon took the entrance exam six times over eight years to enter university. After eight attempts, he entered law school. While preparing for the exam, he realized the importance of law and became interested in deaf rights and disability rights.

Sign Language Interpretation and Captioning Should Be Provided at Universities
Resolving Communication Issues Enables Entry into Various Fields
Support for Disabled People Also Benefits Non-Disabled People
Dreaming of a Happy World Without Distinction Between Disabled and Non-Disabled

However, it was not easy to overcome the realities alone at university. After graduating from law school, Yoon prepared for the bar exam for 20 years but never dared to attend a cram school. He said, "From university onward, I had to study alone. I couldn’t go to cram schools because they didn’t provide sign language interpretation at all." Keeping up with three-hour lectures covering 100 pages was overwhelming. He could barely understand by looking at books marked by friends sitting next to him and notes they took. Korean Sign Language has no Chinese characters. He took the bar exam until it was abolished in 2016. Although he never passed the first stage, he has no regrets.

Press conference urging the guarantee of learning rights for hearing-impaired students, hosted by organizations including People Breaking Down Barriers to Disability (Provided by Jang-ae Byeok Heo Mulgi)

"I am old now, but I hope younger students can enter university and study properly. If sign language interpretation or captions are provided in classes, it would create a better learning environment."

Many deaf people drop out even after entering university because higher education is not easy to complete. Naturally, many deaf people live in economic hardship. Yoon’s hands suddenly moved quickly. He said, "If the sign language interpretation issue is resolved, deaf people will be able to choose various jobs in many fields. Communication problems still limit the fields they can enter."

Recently, most universities have been conducting remote classes to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but many hearing-impaired students cannot properly follow the classes. Sign language interpretation or captions rarely appear in videos, and although work-study students help, they are neither professional stenographers nor interpreters, so detailed interpretation is lacking, causing inconvenience.

People Breaking Down Barriers for the Disabled, where Yoon is active, has done many activities to promote the human rights of deaf people. They filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission when there was no sign language interpreter at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters briefing. The complaint was filed on the 3rd of last month, and after about a month, on the 4th of this month, a sign language interpreter finally appeared on screen. He said, "We continuously demand sign language interpretation at government and local government briefings, and we want to have a sign language interpreter at the Blue House press center as well."

Yoon emphasized that various support for disabled people also greatly benefits non-disabled people. Elevators in subway stations and low-floor buses were created under the Disability Discrimination Act but provide convenience to all transportation-vulnerable groups, including pregnant women, the elderly, and people with children.

First Lady Kim Jung-sook is greeting in sign language at the opening ceremony of the 39th National Sports Festival for the Disabled held last year. She conveyed in sign language, "It is not wrong. We are different. It is not that we cannot do it. We do it in our own way." [Photo by Yonhap News]

Discriminatory perceptions of deaf people have greatly improved. Yoon said with a smile, "In the past, when people talked in sign language on the street, many looked at them with curious expressions, but recently, as human rights awareness has grown, people don’t pay much attention." With the introduction of video calls, more deaf people use sign language to communicate even on the street.

Yoon dreams of a world where disabled and non-disabled people live happily together equally. "I heard that the measure of a welfare state is how well disabled people can live. If asked whether Korea has an environment where disabled people can live well, I’m not sure yet. I want to live in a world where no one experiences discomfort physically."