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Minister Park Neung-hoo Visits Vocational Rehabilitation Center to Discuss COVID-19 Response with Disability Organizations

On the 40th Day of Persons with Disabilities (April 20th), Minister Park Neung-hoo of Health and Welfare (Vice Head 1 of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters) visited a vocational rehabilitation center for persons with disabilities to encourage workers at mask production lines and hold an on-site discussion with representatives from various disability organizations.

The Gangseo-gu Vocational Rehabilitation Center was the first welfare facility officially to be designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2012 as a facility where masks are produced by workers with severe disabilities. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, it has supplied over 730,000 protective masks including 300,000 government-supplied masks. Currently 69 persons with disabilities work at this facility*, including 16 persons with severe disabilities participating in mask production.

* Production lines for non-mask products (candles, room fragrances, etc.) have been closed since February as a social distancing measure.

After a tour of the facilities, Minister Park exchanged opinions on policies for persons with disabilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic with representatives from major organizations for persons with disabilities such as the Korea Differently Abled Federation (Chairperson, Hong Soon-bong)*.

* Korea Differently Abled Federation (Chairperson, Hong Soon-bong), Korean Federation for Organizations of the Disabled (Chairperson, Kim Kwang-hwan), Korea Association of the Deaf (Chairperson, Byeon Seung-il), Korea Organization for Parents of the Disabled (Chairperson, Go Seon-soo), Korea Differently Abled Women United (Chairperson, Park Hye-gyeong), Korea Association of the Vocational Rehabilitation Facilities for the Disabled (Chairperson, Kim Haeng-ran), Gangseo Vocational Rehabilitation Center (Director, Hong Heung-geun)