The NHRC recommended the mayor of Seoul City and the president of Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation to pay compensation (11/21/2002)
The National Human Rights Commission recommended the Mayor of Seoul City and the president of Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation, to compensate for damages and to take measures for considering the characteristics of the disabled such as posting station staffs who are exclusively responsible for guiding the disabled.
On 26 August 2002, the NHRC launched an investigation into the complaint that Park, Kyung-Suk (representative of the coalition named "Solidarity of the Disabled") filed with NHRC against Seoul City and the SMRTC.
The Commission determined that defective lift caused the incident and recommended a compromise be made between the complainant and the respondents. This recommendation was the effort made by the NHRC in order to solve this problem peacefully.
However, The Solidarity of the Disabled denied the recommendation to compromise and brought a lawsuit against Seoul City for demanding compensation, claiming that the mayor of Seoul City should apologize in public for the city"s faults.
The Seoul City authority replied that that incident was caused by the disabled person, who had used a scooter which was unsuitable for the lift that had been installed in the station.
Furthermore, Seoul City claimed that the company which made the lifts should be held accountable, not the supervisory institution, Seoul City.
On the other hand, the SMRTC replied that they were not responsible for the accident in the Balsan Station, according to an investigation that had been done. Since the accident happened in the subway station, they said that they want to solve this problem amicably. However, they said that if the bereaved family made an unreasonable demand on the company they would wait the judiciary decision
In case of excessive requirement for compensations, they will follow the verdict of the court.
NHRC concluded that the recommendation of compromise has been rejected after examining the replies among the complainant and respondents.
