Blind Massage Therapist Faces Danger on Uphill Commute Through Sloped Alleyways

Mr. Park, a visually impaired massage therapist working in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, stated that he faces difficulties on the steep, sloped road from his home to his workplace. Due to the area's characteristic abundance of sloped alleyways, vehicles often cannot directly reach the apartment gate where Mr. Park is dispatched, making it difficult for him to ascend without the help of a personal assistant (a support worker who assists disabled individuals).

The dispatched visually impaired massage therapist program is one of the Ministry of Health and Welfare's support policies for employment for persons with disabilities, allowing visually impaired individuals with massage licenses to visit welfare centers or senior centers to provide professional massage services. However, difficulties arise in the field because the availability of personal assistant support varies by region. Each district municipality recruits its own staff, leading to differing levels of personal assistant support availability. While the assignment of personal assistants is determined by preference, accompanying visually impaired massage therapists is considered an undesirable task. There are also cases where the actions of personal assistants, such as setting up mats or assisting with tasks within the senior center, are reported as fraudulent claims.

Despite completing at least two years and 2,000 hours of training to obtain a massage license, Mr. Park's monthly take-home pay after tax is approximately 1.21 million won. Although his contracted working hours are 25 hours per week, including travel time, his actual on-site presence is around 40 hours per week. This indicates poor working conditions, with actual work hours exceeding his contract when travel time is included. Mr. Park noted that when travel time is included, his work hours are similar to a 40-hour public job, but his take-home pay is about 700,000 won less. There are 10,068 visually impaired massage therapists registered with the association, and approximately 1,360 participate in the nationwide dispatch program.

The Korea Association of Blind Masseurs claims that the mobile nature of the work is not adequately reflected in the program. An association official reported that some feel it would be better to live on basic livelihood security benefits. He mentioned that requests for wage increases, including the establishment of a license allowance, have been made to the National Assembly for the past 10 years, but they have not been implemented due to equity issues with other disability employment programs.

Cases of being treated dismissively, hearing derogatory remarks about disabilities, or being subjected to verbal abuse due to a lack of understanding of disabilities are also frequent. Reports have been received of elderly users making unfair demands or making disparaging comments about disabilities.

Professor Yang Sook-mi of Namseoul University's Department of Social Welfare pointed out that surveys and statistics specifically for the dispatched visually impaired massage therapist program, which is a specialized type of employment, are unclear. Professor Yang explained that the low cost-benefit ratio of the program is due to the failure to adequately reflect the treatment and working conditions of the participants. She added that further investigation into wages and overall treatment is necessary to reflect the unique characteristics of mobile work.