“Declining insurance applications of persons with developmental disability based on their disability is in violation of the Disability Discrimination Act,” said the NHRCK. Regarding two cases where the Korea Post declined the insurance applications of two persons with developmental disability, the NHRCK recommended that the Minister of Knowledge Economy strengthen its supervision of the Korea Post. It also recommended that the Korea Post reconsider these two applications, provide human rights education to its staff members, and establish concrete criteria and application procedures for the mentally disabled. According to the investigation of the NHRCK, the Korea Post rejected the two applications without consulting doctors.
Article 15, Paragraph 2 and Article 17 of the Disability Discrimination Act stipulate that financial products and service providers shall not limit, exclude, separate or refuse persons with disabilities without any justifiable reasons. In this regard, insurance companies are expected to refer to verified statistics and scientific or medical data in deciding whether to accept applications of persons with disabilities.
Although the NHRCK already recommended in 2008 that the Korea Post establish concrete criteria and application review procedures with respect to the concept of “insane person” or “mentally incompetent person” in Article 732 of Commercial Law, the Korea Post has yet taken any measures to follow this recommendation.
