A Ridiculous Social Welfare Foundation Taking Disabled People Hostage After Losing the Consignment Agency

Selected 'Dasom Welfare Association' as the Operating Trustee for Hampyeong Disabled Workers' Facility

Former Trustee A Foundation Unauthorizedly Changed Entry Password and Cut Electricity

A Foundation Claims "Trustee Selection Invalid"... D

At 2 p.m. on the 27th of last month, at the Hampyeong Mujigae Disabled Workers' Workplace, the sun was high in the sky, but the interior of the building, where no sunlight entered, was dark.

With no electricity at all, it was difficult to take a single step in some restrooms and offices without a flashlight.

Electricity is cut off at the 'Mujigae Disabled Workers' Workplace' located in Hampyeong-gun, Jeollanam-do, making it dark despite the broad daylight.
[Photo by Jin-Hyung Park]

Just a few months ago, it was unimaginable that people with disabilities developing their job skills were busy cutting A4 paper and operating mask manufacturing equipment.

Therefore, the workplace now only conducts activities such as Korean language education, moving around inside the building to places where sunlight enters well with the disabled workers.

The reason there is no electricity here is none other than the entire entrusted organization cutting off the power. This damage is directly affecting the innocent disabled people.

According to Hampyeong County on the 2nd, the entrusted organization operating the 'Disabled Workers' Workplace,' which the county commissions, changed from Foundation A to Dasom Welfare Association starting from the 1st of last month.

However, the operation of the disabled workers' workplace by the new entrusted organization, Dasom Welfare Association, has not been smooth. Foundation A, the landowner where the workplace is located, pressured Dasom Welfare Association to leave the office and even changed the entrance door password without permission.

Eventually, from the 14th of last month, they even cut off the electricity, paralyzing operations.

With no electricity, all the A4 cutters and mask manufacturing equipment installed in the first and second-floor workshops stopped working, leaving about 30 mildly disabled workers suddenly without work.

They had been engaged in production activities for 3 to 4 hours a day, four days a week, but due to the sudden change in environment, they are reported to be experiencing considerable stress.

Jung Sung-joo, director of the Gwangju Nanum Disabled Independent Living Center, said, "It is clearly wrong for Foundation A to use disabled people as hostages and just crunch numbers," and added, "The relevant administrative agency should step in and review whether there are any administrative measures that can be taken."

A county official stated, "The electricity usage contract is under Foundation A, so it is difficult to take any action without the consent of the contract holder," and added, "We are looking for solutions from various angles."

In response, a Foundation A representative explained, "The workplace building is shared property, but the land is owned by our corporation. This situation arose because the county selected a new entrusted organization without resolving the real estate rights issue," and said, "Cutting off the electricity was an unavoidable measure to reclaim our rights."