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A disabled person had an accident on the wheelchair lift again.
On September 22nd, Kyung-suk Park (aged 39) who has a first-degree handicap had a terrifying experience he does not want to recall on his way home by subway. He got on the wheelchair lift at the Dongdaemoon Stadium Station to transfer from line four to line five, and the lift suddenly became stuck on its way up the steps. Park was hung in the air for around twenty minutes till a subway attendant who happened to pass by spotted and helped him. Although at Park's protest, the vice-station-manager of the Dongdaemoon Stadium Station apologized and promised to repair the lift as soon as possible, Park is resolved never to use the subway again. "It takes the disabled fifteen minutes to move the distance that an ordinary man can walk to in a couple of minutes. The government should at least guarantee safety to the disabled. Yet, the government is not taking any measures," Park said with resentment.

Frequent accidents, yet very few measures taken

But these accidents continue to occur, due to frequent problems with the subway wheelchair lifts.
In June, Kyu-sik Lee, with a first-degree cerebral palsy, fell from the wheelchair lift at the subway station on his way up the steps. This accident made it clear that measures need to be taken immediately to make it safe for the disabled to use the subway. However, in August, a problem with the wheelchair lift resulted in a similar accident to Hong-ho Lee (aged 30), a disabled person with a first-degree cerebral palsy.

Regarding this issue, Young-ok Jun, an executive of "the Citizens Group to Promote Facilities for the Disabled" pointed out, "Developed countries such as Australia and Canada, to say nothing of big cities like New York, have built elevators in most stations to make it safer for the disabled." She demanded that the government take responsible measures.