opinion

The Workers’ Party of Korea and the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea constantly pursues the policy of promoting the rights of persons with disabilities to ensure that they hold the position as masters of the country and society and lead a fulfilling life in all fields of social life.

President Kim Il Sung saw to it that the issue of providing living conditions for persons with disabilities was stipulated in the first labour law of the country in 1946, the year after Korea’s liberation from Japanese military rule, and that the first organization of the disabled was established in February 1948.

In the thick of the Fatherland Liberation War, he took a measure to found a school for honoured disabled soldiers to ensure they learned useful techniques and skills. After that, schools for the blind and deaf, honoured disabled soldiers’ factories, workshops for light workers and sanatoriums were built across the country, providing a solid foundation for the protection of the disabled.

Chairman Kim Jong Il, who always paid close attention to the life of persons with disabilities, ensured that the Central Committee of the Korean Federation for the Protection of the Disabled was organized and the Law of the DPRK on the Protection of the Disabled enacted, laying the foundation for offering protection to the disabled on a wider scale.

Under the leadership of General Secretary Kim Jong Un, the legal system related to the protection of persons with disabilities has now been further perfected and policies for them have continued to be enforced.

The Law of the DPRK on Ensuring the Rights of the Disabled was adopted at the Ninth Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly in September 2023.

“The repeated legalization of the issue concerning the protection of rights of persons with disabilities by further developing it is of great significance in offering a legal guarantee for providing them with sociopolitical and economic and cultural rights more properly and establishing a social habit of helping them play the role as full members of society,” said Ri Kwang, a staffer of the KFPD Central Committee.

Material foundations have also been fully provided for guaranteeing the health and life of persons with disabilities.

Schools for the deaf and dumb and the blind are now run in different parts of the country and image, sound and character dialogue service is provided according to the curriculum for the universal 12-year compulsory education.

The rehabilitation centre for disabled children, vocational training school, art and sports associations for persons with disabilities are in operation.

It has become commonplace to care for and help persons with disabilities in the country, where it is a social trait to help and lead one another forward.

Many stories are told about the people who have become parents of orphaned persons with disabilities, young men and women who marry the disabled and the donors who have taken good care of them with sincerity for a long time.

In the DPRK the disabled people lead a worthwhile life full of joy and optimism while bringing their talents into full bloom in society overflowing with warm affection under the special care and benefits of the state for them.