National Para-Cyclist Chanjong Park
Points Out Flaws in Administrative Procedures
Controversy has arisen after a man who lost one of his legs in an accident received a Civil Defense Training summons. Critics point out that this incident has clearly exposed flaws in administrative procedures.
According to CJ PARK, a YouTube channel run by cyclist YouTuber Chanjong Park, a video titled "I Had My Leg Amputated, But Received a Civil Defense Summons" was uploaded on April 14.
Park lost one of his legs in a traffic accident in September 2022 and has since been active as a para-cyclist while running the channel.
In the video, Park heads to the training center after receiving the Civil Defense summons and points out the inconvenience of having to apply for each benefit separately, saying, "When you register as a person with a disability, you have to sign a lot of documents. For a car tax discount, you have to go to the district tax office; for an electricity bill discount, you have to go to KEPCO; and for a city gas discount, you have to go to the city gas company."
He continued, "You have to apply for every disability benefit separately. The same goes for the duty of national defense. Once you report your birth, the draft notice is issued automatically, but even after registering as a person with a disability, the Civil Defense still calls you in."
Park stated that he was told, "There is no parking space at the Civil Defense training center, so please walk here," and headed to the information desk. From outside the building to the information desk, there were no elevators or escalators, so he had to go up and down numerous stairs with his prosthetic leg.
After finally realizing Park's situation, the training center staff informed him, "If you have been assigned a disability rating, you need to go to the community center, submit your disability certificate, and apply for exemption from Civil Defense duty." This meant Park had to go back to the community center to apply for exemption from Civil Defense duty.
He said, "Since it all goes through the community center anyway, if you could apply for exemption from Civil Defense duty at the same time as registering as a person with a disability, you wouldn't have the unfortunate situation of receiving a Civil Defense summons at home. But even at the community center, they only now told me, 'You have to apply for this separately.' It would be great if, when a young man registers as a person with a disability, they would also inform him that he should apply for exemption from reserve forces or Civil Defense duty at the same time."
Park lost his left leg in September 2022 when he was hit by a 5-ton truck while riding his bicycle home from work. Since then, he has worn a prosthetic on his left leg and has been active as a national para-cyclist. Just over a year after the accident, in November 2023, he competed in the National Para-Cycling Championships and won four silver medals. He also represented Korea at the 'UCI Para-Cycling World Cup' held in Belgium. Last year, he published an essay titled "My Legs Have No Limits," documenting his recovery and journey of challenge as a para-cyclist after losing one of his legs in an unexpected accident.
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