Kim Ye-ji (R), a blind lawmaker of the main opposition People Power Party, meets with Park Kyung-seok, a co-leader of the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, with her guide dog at a subway station in Seoul on March 28, 2022, as a group of disabled people stages a rally to call for the government to help people with disabilities achieve barrier-free access to public transport facilities and increase budgets for enhancing their rights. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 29 (Korea Bizwire) — A lawmaker with a visual disability stressed that every year, the last Wednesday of April is the International Guide Dog Day, calling for more efforts to raise social awareness and public interest in guide dogs.
Rep. Kim Ye-ji of the People Power Party told MBC radio Thursday that there is no country like South Korea which breeds guide dogs based on support from private companies, adding that other countries rely more on donations.
“The Korea Guide Dog School, which specializes in training guide dogs, service dogs for hearing impaired people and rehabilitation support dogs, operates based on the government’s financial support but is not very active,” she added.
Kim also explained the process of how guide dogs are selected and how they meet people with visual impairment.
In South Korea, guide dogs are most commonly Labrador Retrievers.
“That’s because South Korea has not yet established positive public awareness about large dogs. In foreign countries, shepherd dogs are also selected as guide dogs,” Kim said.
The blind lawmaker has been accompanied by a guide dog for 22 years.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
