[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 31st that starting next month on the 1st, it will implement the ‘Gwangju-type Sign Language Interpretation Service’ through the five district Disabled Welfare Centers to improve the quality of life for the deaf.
The sign language interpretation service to be implemented this time will actively respond to the demand for sign language interpretation in the local community by directly placing sign language interpreters at the five district Disabled Welfare Centers to provide on-site customized interpretation services.
An on-duty sign language interpretation rotation system will be implemented to provide emergency services on weekends, holidays, and nights.
Along with this, the city will establish a Sign Language Support Team at the Municipal Disabled Welfare Center to strengthen welfare services for people with hearing and speech disabilities.
The welfare centers will actively discover and promote projects to improve the convenience and quality of life for people with hearing and speech disabilities, including promotion of sign language (Korean Sign Language), lifelong education programs including interpretation services, YouTube sign language broadcasts for the deaf, development of sign language interpretation-related applications, and welfare needs surveys.
The existing sign language interpretation service is provided on-site at each of the five district welfare centers through sign language interpreters assigned to local Disabled Welfare Centers. For inquiries about sign language interpretation and welfare services for the hearing impaired, contact the Yangdong Branch Office of the Gwangju Disabled Welfare Center.
Going forward, Gwangju City plans to convert the closed old sign language interpretation center in Yangdong into a Deaf Shelter and Sign Language Education Center to establish a customized welfare support system for people with hearing and speech disabilities who have felt relatively marginalized in welfare. The city is also promoting the construction of a welfare center for the hearing and speech disabled by 2024.
Lee Pyeong-hyung, Director of the Welfare and Health Bureau of the city, said, “We will actively strive to establish the Gwangju-type sign language interpretation service linked with field-centered welfare services for more than 10,000 people with hearing and speech disabilities in our city so that the deaf can live healthy and happy lives.”
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