This photo, taken at Seoul Station on Sept. 27, 2020, shows a KTX train crowded with passengers. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — The state-run railway operator should give foreigners registered as disabled the same discount on train tickets as local disabled people receive, the state human rights watchdog said Tuesday.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea put forward the opinion after a woman filed a petition last year that her husband, who was registered as hearing impaired, could not receive a discount on railway fares because he is a foreigner.
The Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) argued that foreigners can be excluded from the discount due to budget and other reasons under the welfare act for the disabled, saying the company shoulders costs of nearly 20 billion won (US$15.6 million) each year to cover for the reduced fare of the handicapped.
In Tuesday’s decision, the human rights watchdog dismissed the petition, but called for KORAIL to cooperate with related institutions to give fare discounts to foreign disabled people.
“Giving railroad fee discounts to foreigners who are registered as disabled is desirable in terms of increasing the social participation of the handicapped, and enhancing human rights, including securing the right to mobility,” the watchdog said.
(Yonhap)
