The National Human Rights Commission ruled that a complaint filed by webtoon artist Ju Ho-min against a broadcaster, alleging it highlighted a specific behavior of Ju's child with developmental disabilities in its coverage, constituted discrimination against people with disabilities.
According to the NHRC on the 30th, Ju filed a complaint with the commission last year, saying JTBC's program "Case Chief" highlighted a specific behavior of Ju's son in captions while covering a special education teacher child abuse case involving the son.
JTBC said the captions cited another news outlet's article and that it had no choice but to include the specific behavior in the report to help viewers understand the context of the case.
However, the NHRC's Committee for the Remedy of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities said, "It is a social responsibility of the media to consider that viewers' negative stereotypes about children with developmental disabilities could be reinforced," and found that "broadcasting captions that highlight only a specific behavior without considering the overall circumstances, such as the motives or environment that prompted the behavior, constitutes discrimination against people with disabilities."
The NHRC also recommended that JTBC establish measures to prevent a recurrence so that the rights of children with developmental disabilities featured in broadcasts are protected to the greatest extent possible. It further expressed the view that the Ministry of Health and Welfare needs to devise ways to apply the recommended standards for reporting on disability abuse and requests for compliance to media coverage related to children with developmental disabilities.
Ju's son was moved to a special class after, in early September 2022, he pulled down his pants in front of a female student while attending a general education class. Ju's side has claimed that the special class teacher made remarks to the son, who was trying to leave the classroom, to the effect of "You can't go to the (general) classroom" and "You can't even see your friends' faces."
Ju filed a criminal complaint against the teacher on suspicion of child abuse, and the first trial court admitted as evidence an audio recording secretly made by Ju and fined the teacher 2 million won. However, the appellate court ruled that the recording constituted "a conversation between others that was not made public," did not recognize its evidentiary value, and acquitted the teacher.