Disability rights group ends rush hour subway protests after Seoul city councillors pledge mobility support

Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD) said Monday it will end its rush-hour subway boarding protests for good, after Seoul council members pledged to pass ordinances guaranteeing mobility and labor rights for people with disabilities.

"We resolve to stand together until the end to build an equal society where disability does not create barriers and a Seoul where people can live with dignity, not merely survive," SADD and the Democratic Party (DP) caucus of the Seoul Metropolitan Council said jointly at a press conference at the council's office building on Monday, while announcing the end of the protests. They issued a declaration on a social compromise to guarantee the rights of people with disabilities.

The council's DP caucus pledged to pass its first two ordinances adopted as official party policy, aimed at guaranteeing mobility and labor rights for people with disabilities, at an upcoming plenary session.

SADD has staged 73 rush-hour subway boarding protests since Dec. 3, 2021, demanding greater protections for the rights of people with disabilities, according to the group.

After meeting Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun on Wednesday, SADD had temporarily suspended its rush-hour subway protests 

At the time, the group announced that it would cancel its daily planned rush-hour subway boarding demonstrations at Seoul Station. It said, however, that it would proceed with a subway boarding protest scheduled for 8 a.m. Monday at Seoul Station before announcing whether it would continue the protests in the future.

BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]