and private companies to see whether there are any discriminatory elements, and raised
public awareness on discriminatory recruiting process. It identified different retirement
ages applied to different positions, jobs, genders, and employment types, and reviewed
policy measures to be taken, contributing to address employment discrimination in the
public sector.
Considering that public interest and concerns were heightened on service facilities for
the disabled owing to the controversial film “Silenced” and the revision of Social Welfare
Services Act in 2011, the Commission worked to advance the rights of the disabled and
correct discrimination. Specifically, it recommended to enhance the linkage between the
Act on the Promotion and Guarantee of Access for the Disabled, the Aged, and Pregnant
Women to Facilities and Information and the Building Act; to draw measures to address
discrimination against the disabled in their use of financial products and services; to
organize programs for the disabled in sports facilities operated by local governments; to
place electronic text signs in town shuttle buses and city buses; and to provide barcodes
that convert prints into voices, or Braille data or standard text file when issuing medical
records. It also carried out suo moto and field investigations to schools which forced their
students to provide teachers massage service, and reported the cases and violation charges
to the enforcement agency in an effort to make active responses to human rights issues.
The Commission surveyed the needs of the disabled, and analyzed current regulations
and policies by sector, in order to formulate mid to long-term strategies to guarantee the
rights of the disabled and address discrimination. It also identified policy measures
needed in each stage of i) independence of the persons with disability from service
institutions for the disabled, ii) early settlement, and iii) assimilation into community, and
reviewed how to improve laws and institutions. Moreover, in order to address
discrimination against the persons with disability in the process of insurance application,
the Commission researched on guidelines on validity of rejecting certain persons with
disability; reviewed cases of other countries to draw lines on diverse concepts of
30
Part I. Introduction