[ChamTrue?] Is the '20-Minute Delay' Evidence of an Uncivilized Protest? Reviewing Lee Jun-seok's Claim

Discussion Held on March 13 Regarding Protest for Disabled Mobility Rights
Lee Jun-seok: "Protests Boarding in a Single Line Do Not Take Long"
Last Year's Protest Boarding Subway in a Line Also Took Over 20 Minutes

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 13th, Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, met with Park Kyung-seok, leader of the National Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (Jeonjangyeon), at a TV debate hosted by a broadcasting company. They discussed the recent controversial protests advocating for the mobility rights of people with disabilities. The two clashed over one of the debate's key issues, the 'protest methods,' and suddenly fell into a '20-minute dispute.'

Park: You mean protests involving attaching wheels like wheelchairs are uncivilized because they block train departures?

Lee: Yes.

Park: (Like last year) they boarded in a single line and blocked for 20 minutes. That is socially acceptable?

Lee: It doesn’t even take 20 minutes. That’s how long those protests last.

Park: No, I was there on site.

Lee: I was there too.

In this conversation, Lee’s claim that Jeonjangyeon’s recent protests are uncivilized is based on the subway 'departure delay' time. The method of wedging wheelchair wheels between the subway and the platform or positioning wheelchairs in the doorway delayed train departures by over 20 minutes, causing inconvenience to citizens, which is why he called it uncivilized.

On the other hand, he argued that last year’s protests, where people with disabilities boarded and alighted in a line, did not take more than 20 minutes and were therefore civilized. Is Lee’s logic of distinguishing disability protests demanding mobility rights and deinstitutionalization based on time valid?

Does boarding and alighting in a line take little time? ... There were cases with delays over 20 minutes

Last year, Jeonjangyeon conducted protests using both the method of wedging wheelchairs and the method of repeatedly boarding and alighting. According to a complaint submitted by Seoul Metro to Jeonjangyeon on November 23 last year, disabled activists held seven protests between January and November last year, stopping the subway for a total of 5 hours and 39 minutes. Among these, the protests using the boarding and alighting method, which Lee considered civilized, were held four times.

However, these protests also lasted over 20 minutes. The boarding and alighting protest at Seoul Station on January 22 last year delayed the subway by 35 minutes and 55 seconds. The protest at Hyehwa Station on June 4 last year also took 20 minutes and 35 seconds. Of course, there were cases where it did not exceed 20 minutes. On February 10 last year, repeated boarding and alighting occurred at 18 stations from Danggogae to Seoul Station, with an average delay of about 7 minutes per station.

However, the total delay time was 2 hours, 9 minutes, and 30 seconds, which is quite significant. On March 12 last year, at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station, boarding and alighting in a line took 15 minutes and 39 seconds, close to 20 minutes.

Officials from the National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities are staging a boarding protest on the Seoul Subway Line 3 at Gyeongbokgung Station on the 24th, demanding the guarantee of mobility rights for persons with disabilities. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The process of moving toward a civilized society is not always convenient or agreeable to everyone. Abroad, people with disabilities have fought for their rights in ways that Lee might see as uncivilized.

One example is the background of the implementation of Section 504 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act. This provision, which granted equal educational opportunities to students with disabilities in the U.S., was enacted after disability activists staged sit-in protests. In 1977, activists occupied several locations housing regional offices of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Among these, the federal building in San Francisco was occupied for about 24 days, demanding the enforcement of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Heo Min-sook, a researcher at the National Assembly Legislative Research Office, said, “We should not distinguish protests by their methods but look at who is demanding what?the 'message.' It would be good to compare the 21 years it took for the disability movement to raise its voice with the 20 minutes of debate.” She added, “We must move toward a better society that embraces the vulnerable, including people with disabilities, rather than focusing on immediate inconvenience and benefits.”

<Conclusion>

“The protest method of boarding the subway in a line does not take long”

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party’s claim is largely incorrect