Disabled Residents' Mobility Support Disrupted as Severance Recovery Cuts Center Subsidy

Vehicles that helped disabled residents get around in Jindo, South Jeolla Province, have been out of service for nearly two months. When a dismissed employee took legal action to recover unpaid wages, Jindo County reduced the center's operating subsidy by the amount seized. With the center's operations suspended, the burden has fallen on disabled residents.

A van that once assisted people with walking difficulties sits idle in a parking lot. It was a lifeline for users going to hospitals or grocery shopping. The van, operated by a center funded by Jindo County subsidies, stopped running last month, and the county has been providing temporary rides with a passenger car instead.

The trouble began with a dismissal dispute between the center's director and an employee dating back to 2020. The employee, who said she was fired after workplace bullying, won a lawsuit to overturn the dismissal and applied for a court seizure order early this year to collect back wages. About 30 million won of the center's subsidy was subject to seizure.

Then came the problem. Jindo County judged that the seized funds could no longer be used for the center's operations and cut its second-half operating subsidy accordingly. The center, unable to pay wages, closed its doors last month. Park Ju-yeon, the employee who requested the seizure, said, "I'm the victim of unfair dismissal, yet it's as if I'm being branded as the one responsible for the shutdown. It's so unfair."

The center had also temporarily suspended operations for about a year in 2023 due to internal issues.

Jindo County said it is merely a subsidy provider and cannot directly intervene in the center's labor disputes, adding that it will not pay the reduced subsidy again. The county plans to provide temporary rides with a passenger car through the end of this year, while the operator and structure of the center for next year remain undecided. With the legal dispute and subsidy cut intertwined, mobility support for disabled users remains suspended.