Accessible Transportation for Persons with Severe Mobility Impairments Needs to Be Ensured
□ On May 28, 2025, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (hereinafter 'NHRCK'), chaired by Ahn Chang-ho, issued an opinion to the heads of all 17 metropolitan and provincial governments, urging them to develop appropriate measures to ensure transportation accessibility for persons with severe mobility impairments—specifically, bedridden persons with disabilities—until specialized transportation services (such as disability call taxis) are adequately deployed.
□ The complainants in this case are “bedridden persons with disabilities” who, due to illness or disability, are unable to sit upright or stretch their legs while seated and therefore require transportation while lying down. They filed a complaint against the mayors of Seoul and Incheon, among others, as well as the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, alleging the failure to introduce appropriate call taxi services for persons with disabilities.
□ In response, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained that on May 25, 2023, the Constitutional Court of Korea had issued a ruling of unconstitutionality regarding the lack of safety standards for bed-type wheelchair access in the Enforcement Rules of the Act on the Promotion of the Transportation Convenience of Mobility Disadvantaged Persons. The Ministry stated that it plans to establish safety standards for bed-type wheelchair transport in 2024. The Seoul Metropolitan Government also indicated that it would examine the feasibility of intruducing such vehicles once the safety standards are in place.
□ The NHRCK’s Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities made the following determinations:
○ The Enforcement Rules of the relevant act have since been revised by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to include standards and specifications for mobile stretchers installed in special transportation vehicles. In addition, some local governments have already received recommendations from their own human rights bodies regarding transportation access for bedridden persons. Therefore, no separate remedial action was deemed necessary in this case.
○ However, in order to ensure the safe operation of special transportation services for bedridden persons, the vehicles must be manufactured and certified in compliance with the established standards. This must be accompanied by thorough safety verification, repeated test operations, education of related personnel, and comprehensive training for drivers and support staff to ensure competence.
○ For bedridden persons, “transportation” is not merely about moving from one location to another. It is about access to essential facilities such as hospitals and government offices. Therefore, mobility support is a matter of survival and a fundamental human right.
□ Accordingly, while the NHRCK decided to dismiss the complaint, it emphasized the necessity of minimizing the transitional gap until improved special transportation services are fully implemented. The NHRCK expressed the opinion that local governments should proactively establish measures to ensure mobility for bedridden persons with disabilities.
