"Let’s Fight Together Now": SADD Proposes Solidarity to Park We

[Financial News] YouTuber and broadcaster Park We faced a backlash after releasing CCTV footage that he said showed him falling while getting off a KTX train. The National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against the Disabled (SADD) proposed solidarity, saying, "Let’s fight together now."
On the 2nd, SADD shared on its official Facebook page a post written by an activist from one of its member organizations. Titled "He Did Not Understand a Non-Disabled-Centered Society," the post addressed the Park We incident.
A said, "To be honest, I did not particularly like his content even before this," adding, "In his videos, I often felt that disability was portrayed not as an issue that disrupts the order of mainstream society, but as something to be overcome through the kindness and consideration of non-disabled people, or as a personal inconvenience."
A continued, "He talked about disability, but from my perspective, his content placed greater emphasis on a person with a disability adapting well to and living within non-disabled society than on the social structures that produce disability. Of course, he may have believed that his content contributed to improving awareness of disability, but to me, apart from the fact that it dealt with disability, it did not look very different from mainstream YouTube content."
A said that although Park We had the same disability, he sometimes felt like a "non-disabled man in a wheelchair" living in a world different from his own.
"But my thoughts changed after seeing this incident," he said. "It was because I was reminded that even someone who seemed to live in a different world from mine can become the target of discrimination and hatred at any time in a non-disabled-centered society simply because of having a disability."
He noted, "Many people take issue with the fact that he released the CCTV footage as part of his content. It is also possible to discuss whether other people’s portrait rights and personal information were handled appropriately during the release, but that is a separate issue requiring criticism and review. We cannot treat that issue as the same thing as the anti-disability hatred directed at him."
A said, "Believing that releasing the footage was inappropriate does not give anyone the right to mock disability, attack the demand for the mobility rights of people with disabilities, or direct hatred at his partner, who had nothing to do with the incident. What I felt through this incident was the reality of a non-disabled-centered society that he had not previously recognized."
He added, "People with disabilities are welcomed when they inspire others, but become an uncomfortable presence when they demand their rights. I believe that is precisely where ableism reveals itself."
He said, "Even if we have lived different lives, there may come a time when we ultimately find ourselves facing social hatred. Whether we have many or few social resources, and whether we are famous or not, the face of the hatred we encounter when people with disabilities step outside the rules of a non-disabled-centered society has remarkably similar features."
He continued, "I do not want to offer him comfort right now. Instead, I hope he can safely escape the swamp of meaningless hateful comments. I hope he will not leave this experience as merely a personal misfortune or mistake."
A proposed, "Rather than staying within the story of a ‘moving person overcoming disability and living his life,’ I hope we can talk together about why people with disabilities have to fall while traveling, why they must rely on someone else’s help and kindness every time they move around, and why the words ‘nuisance’ and ‘special treatment’ immediately follow when people with disabilities protest. I also hope we can read the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) together, campaign for mobility rights together, and discuss the rights of people with disabilities in the language of rights rather than charity and consideration."
He added, "Instead of offering him comfort, I want to extend my hand. The world of resistance may be far more difficult than the world of inspiration, but I want to tell him that this world is also quite livable, and that we should fight together now."
Earlier, on the 21st of last month, Park We released a video through his YouTube channel Weracle showing an accident in which the wheel of his wheelchair caught on the foot of a social service worker as he was getting off a KTX train, causing him to fall.
Regarding the video, online users strongly criticized Park We, questioning whether he intended to publicize the social service worker’s mistake and subject the individual to public condemnation. As criticism continued that it was excessive to publicize the incident by releasing CCTV footage that could identify the individual, especially since the worker apologized to Park We at the scene and the accident was not intentional, Park We eventually deleted the video and apologized.
The controversy, however, did not subside. A series of scheduled lectures and talk concerts were canceled, and after petitions were filed with the Seoul Metropolitan Government calling for Park We to be dismissed as a promotional ambassador, he eventually stepped down from the position himself.
[email protected] Kim Soo-yeon Reporter