Unfair supply and demand... "Different" support services for the disabled.

[Anchor]
Blind people can get help from activity volunteers in their daily lives.

It is controversial that a blind person who recently ran a massage center and was helped by an activity supporter died on his own after being caught for illegal supply and demand.

There is a growing demand for system supplementation that reflects the reality of the blind.

Reporter Bae Minhyuk found out.

[Reporter]
Ahn Mi-sook, a blind person, has been running a massage center for more than 15 years.

It's hard to get around alone when I leave home. Bonnie, I've also been helped by an activity supporter at the massage center.

However, in March, the district office in charge notified Ahn that it was an illegal supply and demand, saying that the activity support company was helping Ahn beyond the scope of his work.

[Ahn Mi-sook / Blind person running a massage center: It's illegal to order drinks or other errands, and it's also illegal to ask the bank to deposit money when a customer comes out in cash. It's because he helped me with the sales.]

[Mr. A/Ms. Ahn Mi-sook's former applicant: It's a uniform (used at Anmawon). If it comes out, I'll give it to you when you wash it...But it was something I couldn't help but watch.]

This is because the current Act on Support for Activities for the Disabled stipulates that activity support companies can only provide help for users' personal safety, such as physical and household activities, and cannot support their livelihoods.

The late Jang Sung-il, a blind man who ran a massage center for five years, killed himself after receiving help from the activity support company, including calculation, and receiving a notification from the city that he could recover 200 million won in illegal supply and demand.

According to the principle, Ahn was able to get help through the disabled activity support service implemented by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, but there was no system to help with tasks such as payment or receipt arrangement at the massage center operated alone.

There is a labor support system implemented by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, but only workers are allowed, and Ahn, a business operator, was not eligible for use.

Hiring employees was the only solution, but it wasn't easy because of the difficulty.

[Shin Wook-seop / Chairman of the Welfare Subcommittee of the Korea Anma Association: The limitations of the current system that do not reflect the characteristics and needs of the visually impaired and the coercive public officials who implement it....]

While a work support system has been established to support disabled business owners,
is still in pilot operation.
As the boundaries between personal processing, work, and livelihood are ambiguous, there are demands for comprehensive support measures.

[Hanjin Cho / Professor of Social Welfare at Daegu University] The biggest problem is that the scope of activity support is interpreted too narrowly. I need to be more flexible with the operation, but I don't know the reality of the disabled....]

There are also voices calling for a control tower to integrate the work of the ministries in charge scattered across the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

I'm BAE MINHYUK of YTN.

Reporter: Lee Dong-gyu Hong Seong-no
Design: Jeon Whee Lin