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"Concerns Over Justifying Uniform Exclusion of the Elderly"

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has ruled that restricting membership registration for sports facilities to those aged 65 and older constitutes discriminatory behavior.

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On the 28th, the NHRCK announced that it recommended Mr. A, the owner of a sports club, to revise the membership-related bylaws to prevent discrimination against elderly individuals aged 65 and above and to establish measures to prevent recurrence.

Previously, Mr. B, born in January 1956, was denied membership at this sports facility because he was over 65 years old. Subsequently, Mr. B filed a complaint with the NHRCK, claiming age discrimination, and the commission ruled in his favor.

Mr. A had responded that he restricts elderly membership at his sports club due to concerns about safety accidents. He explained that as the members aged, accidents occurred frequently, and despite efforts such as deploying safety personnel, it was difficult to respond immediately when accidents happened. The NHRCK acknowledged that while Mr. A’s purpose was legitimate, uniformly excluding people aged 65 and older was not reasonable.

The NHRCK noted that Mr. A’s sports club allows full members who joined before the age of 64 to maintain their membership even after surpassing 65. It was also found that Mr. B had been using the sports club as a full member for the past five years and that no separate age verification was conducted when registering as a day user.

The NHRCK stated, "Such usage restrictions may spread negative perceptions among the general public that elderly individuals aged 65 and above are vulnerable to illness, physically weak, or may cause harm to others due to carelessness or health issues," and pointed out the "risk of justifying the uniform exclusion of elderly populations from commercial facility use."

Furthermore, the commission judged that "the incidence of safety accidents in sports facilities cannot necessarily be considered proportional to age," and that "uniformly excluding membership registration for those aged 65 and older is difficult to deem reasonable."

Meanwhile, recently, trends have been spreading in some restaurants, sports clubs, and other establishments to selectively admit customers based on age or gender. Examples include 'No Senior Zones' restricting access to older adults, 'No Kid Zones' banning young children, and 'No Joomma Zones' limiting access to women of certain ages. Conflicts between business owners and users regarding these practices are also increasing.