총 40페이지

Photo Essay
Owl of Minerva
Adults with Disabilities
Have Right for Education
ByJeonSeong-jin
EditorialConsultant
A
fter a 23-year hiatus, the Republic of Korea celebrated ‘Hangul Proclamation Day’ as a holiday again
on Oct. 9. King Sejong the Great invented the Korean alphabet ‘Hangul’ in 1446, after considering that
most of his subjects did not have access to reading because only a privileged few could learn and use
sophisticatedChinesecharacters.InadditiontoitshistoricalimpactontheKoreanpeninsula,contemporaryscholars
andlinguistscontinuetopraisethescientificsystemusedtoinventHangul.
The creation of Hangul has had an impact on modern society. However, it seems the King’s original intention
behindtheinventionofanalphabetisabitvague.Withtheprogressofinformationandtheglobalmarketeconomy,
analphabetisnolongerjustatoolforwritingsomething.Itmeanssomethingmorethanthat.Havinganexclusive
alphabet has become a form of power. Furthermore, when certain information is written in a specific language
and its own alphabet, the alphabet enables the information to be more salable nowadays. This means if somebody
possesstheartisticskilltoworkinaparticularalphabet,thenthiscanbecomeameanstoattainsuccessandriches.
On Hangul day at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, which is the central area of the northern half of the city,
individuals with disabilities gathered in front of the statue of King Sejong the Great. They rallied for a motion to
establishalawonsignlanguagewiththeMinistryofEducationtobetterprocurelifetimeeducationforpeoplewith
disabilities.TheysetatableforamemorialserviceinfrontoftheKing’sstatue,whoinventedanalphabettoserve
thepublic’sneeds.Theirprotestaftertheserviceatthesquareeventuallyledtoaconfrontationwiththepolice.
In the modern era where information and literacy are highly valued as tools for success, learning something
meansalottopeople.Manysortsoftestswhichevaluatefluencyinalanguagehavebecomeessentialforthosewho
long for a successful career. Though people do not like to state this in public, a person’s educational background,
particularlytheuniversitytheyattended,hasasignificantimpactonhowbrightanindividual’scareerwillbe.This
posesasignificantquestiontosociety;isabasiceducationforallpeoplelivingwithdisabilitiestoomuchtoaskfor?
Peoplelivingwithdisabilitieshavealreadyexperiencedseriousobstaclesinlifethatothershavenot,yettheyare
additionallyforcedintoapositionbehindotherswhenseekingtogetinlineforjobs.Irrespectiveoftheneedfora
successfulcareer,peoplewithdisabilitiesarehumanbeingswhomakeupanimportantpartofKoreansociety.Of
course there are people who do their best to help the handicapped, but why is it so difficult to guarantee them the
righttolearntheirownlanguagethroughthepassingofagovernmentmotionthatcostsanamazinglyhighamount
ofmoney?
Everyone knows that the times have changed, and the members of our society are very different from those who
lived during King Sejong’s reign. However, considering the significance of ‘Sejong’s sincerity in inventing Hangul
for those who could not afford to obtain literacy, those in need of help should receive every opportunity to learn
theirownlanguage.Allhumansarecreatedequal,andinthiscompetitivesociety,theyshouldbeofferedthetools
forbettercommunicationtoensurefaircompetition.
richard@hufs.ac.kr
NOVEMBER 2013
29

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