The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recommended improvements, saying a resort inside a national park failed to provide reasonable accommodations to ensure tourism activities for people with disabilities who use wheelchairs.
According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the 9th, A, a person with a physical disability who uses a wheelchair, visited Muju Deogyusan Resort with companions. However, A said it was difficult to access facilities such as the ticket office, restrooms, and a convenience store, and that boarding the gondola for sightseeing was also hard, and filed a petition with the NHRC.
Muju County said it issued an improvement order after an on-site inspection to correct necessary matters under the Act on the Promotion of the Convenience of Persons with Disabilities, but explained to the NHRC that the remaining facilities did not violate the law.
Muju Deogyusan Resort also said it complied with Muju County's improvement order, but the remaining issues raised in the petition could not be addressed at its discretion because they are owned and managed by the national park. It also said there are cases where there is not enough space to install facilities to improve access for people with disabilities.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Committee for the Correction of Disability Discrimination determined that Muju Deogyusan Resort did not sufficiently provide reasonable accommodations to ensure that people with disabilities who use wheelchairs could engage in tourism activities at a level substantially equal to that of people without disabilities, and deemed it discriminatory conduct.
It also noted that Muju County should not respond passively to securing accessibility for people with disabilities on the grounds that the tourism facilities are operated by a private business.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recommended that Muju County closely review compliance with standards for installing accessible facilities and conduct staff training to promote proactive administration.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also recommended that Muju Deogyusan Resort prepare measures to provide practical accommodations when people with disabilities who use wheelchairs use facilities such as ticket offices, restrooms, and food-and-beverage outlets, and consider measures such as installing decks on sightseeing routes to ensure mobility for people with disabilities.