Jeonjangyeon Protests with "Crawling Protests" Over Budget Issues... Announces Resumption of Commuter Subway Demonstrations

The Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD) has demanded a meeting with the Minister of Health and Welfare, calling for the abolition of "budgets that discriminate against people with disabilities."

At 11:00 a.m. today (August 18), SADD members gathered in front of the Korea Fiscal Information Service in Jung-gu, Seoul, and marched toward the home of Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyung while performing what they call "poche-toji."

Poche-toji is a modified term inspired by the Buddhist ritual "oche-toji" (prostrating oneself), replacing the character "o" (five) with "po" (to crawl), symbolizing the desperate plea of severely disabled individuals.

When they arrived in front of Minister Jeong's residence, police set up barricades to block them from entering the residential complex interior, which had not been reported as a rally or march location.

Some activists, including SADD leader Park Kyeong-seok, attempted to get past the barricades, leading to clashes with the police.

Chanting slogans such as "Resolve the Saekdongwon issue" and "Abolish the budget that discriminates against people with disabilities," SADD demanded a meeting with Minister Jeong.

They define the budget for "residential facilities for people with disabilities" as a "budget of discrimination" and are calling for deinstitutionalization.

They argue that separating people with disabilities into residential facilities rather than allowing them to live together in local communities constitutes discrimination.

After crossing the police barricade, Representative Park met with an official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare to deliver their stance that the budget must be revised immediately.

Earlier this morning, they held a commuter subway boarding protest on the platform at Seoul Station, causing trains on subway lines 4 (both inbound and outbound) and line 1 (outbound) to temporarily skip the station without stopping.

They announced plans to continue holding daily morning commuter subway boarding campaigns andoche-toji marches demanding a meeting with the Minister of Health and Welfare.

They have also set up a tent protest site in front of the Korea Fiscal Information Service in Jung-gu, urging guarantees for budgets related to the right to mobility and rights protection for people with disabilities.

(Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Kim Na-on | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.