The Seoul Metropolitan Government will expand public jobs for people with disabilities to 12,000 by 2030. That is more than double the current 5,000. It will also push to convert all city and village buses to low-floor buses to strengthen mobility rights for people with disabilities.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on the 16th announced the Disability Daily Vitality Project at City Hall.
The vitality project for people with disabilities centers on support for 385,000 people with disabilities living in Seoul. It consists of 12 tasks in four areas: ▲ reliable jobs and income ▲ comfortable housing and care ▲ free mobility and access rights ▲ respected human rights and leisure. The total budget for this is 2 trillion won.
First, the city of Seoul also decided to increase public jobs for people with disabilities. It plans to gradually expand from the current level of 5,000 to 7,000 in 2027 and 12,000 in 2030. In a survey of people with severe disabilities conducted by the city, 45% of respondents cited "income and jobs" as the most needed support. According to the city, the employment rate for people with disabilities in Seoul is 37%, about half of the employment rate for those aged 15 and older (63%).
Accordingly, the city plans to gradually increase jobs that allow people with disabilities to engage in income-generating activities and expand social participation. Public jobs for people with disabilities include general office assistant roles such as administrative support at public institutions and welfare centers; social service roles such as nursing care assistant and senior massage services; and "employment-linked" roles such as barista and librarian.
In addition, the city will establish a specialized vocational school for people with disabilities in 2030. Targeting people with disabilities aged 15 and older, it plans to provide vocational training in future promising industries such as ICT and offer job experience tailored to the demand of corporations to build a foundation for self-reliance. For example, "industrial robot control and operation" for people with hearing disabilities, "sound engineer" for people with visual disabilities, and "3D modeling virtual environment design" for people with physical disabilities.
The Seoul-type personal budget program, which currently covers about 100 people, will be expanded on a cumulative basis to 2,600 by 2030. The support budget will be raised from 400,000 won per person to 500,000 won. The Seoul-type personal budget is funding that recipients can use by selecting the fields they need directly, such as self-development, job seeking or starting a business, and improving their living environment. The Seoul-type additional benefit for people with disabilities, aimed at stabilizing the lives of low-income people with severe disabilities, will also be increased from 40,000 won per month to 80,000 won per month by 2030.
Housing measures for people with disabilities were also announced. The number of "supportive housing for people with disabilities," where residents can live for up to 20 years, will be expanded from the current 336 households to 500 by 2030. The number of "group homes," where small groups of three to four people with disabilities live together in a home-like environment and receive care services, will also be increased to 250. The city also plans to operate "independent living experience housing," where people with disabilities can experience living alone for six months.
Support measures for early cancer screening were also prepared. This is for people with severe disabilities who find it difficult to undergo regular health checkups. People can be screened for stomach cancer at ages 30–39 and for colorectal cancer at ages 40–49.
In addition, to strengthen mobility rights for people with disabilities, the city and village buses will be converted to 100% low-floor buses. On all routes where low-floor buses can be introduced, village buses will be replaced by 2030 and city buses by 2032. To protect the human rights of people with disabilities, the city decided to apply a "zero tolerance" principle to human rights violations within residential facilities for people with disabilities. In cases of serious human rights violations, it will implement a "one-strike-out" policy and issue an administrative disposition to immediately close the facility.
Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, "We will break down barriers and remove thresholds so that what is taken for granted by some does not become a constant challenge for people with disabilities."