A126 Promoting Employment in Korea

1. Status of vocational competency
development services for person
with disabilities in Korea
Prof. Cho, Heung Seek, Ph.D.
National Secretary, RI Korea
Dept. of Social Welfare, Seoul National University
(chohs@snu.ac.kr)

2. Introduction
The objective of this study is to let the world know
the Korean vocational competency development
services for PWD.
This study will firstly introduce current population
trend of PWD in Korea and present Korean
employment policy and system for PWD, secondly,
status of vocational competency development
services for PWD, and finally suggest future policy
directions for PWD in Korea.

3. Number of Registered
Persons with Disabilities
Proportion of PD
P with D
P w/o D
Disability Types No. of PD (%)
Physical 1,353,753 49.64
Brain Lesion 308,100 11.29
Auditory 281,984 10.35
Visual 278,173 10.19
Intellectual 207,704 7.62
Mental 117,428 4.31
Kidney 72,132 2.65
Linguistic 21,700 0.80
Autism 19,868 0.73
Ostomy 16,814 0.62
Respiratory 16,054 0.59
Liver 11,841 0.43
Epilepsy 9,842 0.36
Heart 8,498 0.31
Face 3,018 0.11
Total 2,726,910 100
 Total population of KR :
50,420,000 (2014)
 Total population of PD :
2,726,910(2014)
5.4%(5.2%, 2011)
94.6%
(2011)

4. History of Policy Development for PWD
▪1963: The Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act
▪1977: The enactment of the Act on the Special Education Promotion Act
▪1981: The enactment of the Welfare of Physically or Mentally Disabled
Persons Act (Later revised as the Welfare of Disabled Persons Act)
▪1990: The Employment Promotion and Vocational Rehabilitation Act for
the Disabled
▪1998: The Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Employment and
Labor, and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology jointly
formulated the First Five-year Plan for the Promotion of the Welfare of
Disabled People (1998-2002). Now The Fourth Five-year Development
Plan for Persons with Disabilities(2013-2018)
▪1999: The Policy Coordination Committee for Disabled Persons
▪2007: The Anti-Discrimination against and Remedies for Persons with
Disabilities Act ----- Korea ratified the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (Took effect January 2009)
▪2008: The Special Act on the Preferential Purchase of Products
Manufactured by Persons with Severe Disabilities

5. Social Services for PWD
N=1,231,022
(Source: KOWEPS, 2011)

6. Korean employment policy for
PWD
▪ Mandatory employment of disabled workers system
- Public sector (3.4% or more of civil servants), workplaces with 50 workers
or more (3.1% or more of workers)
▪ Public Workplace venture for persons with disabilities
- Providing financial support aimed at creating job opportunities and
promoting employment for persons with severe disabilities who find it
difficult to enter the labor market
▪ Vocational rehabilitation services for persons with severe
disabilities
- In order to initiate self-sufficiency for persons with severe disabilities and
expanding their opportunities for participation in society, institutions
including community rehabilitation centers, vocational rehabilitation
facilities, and disability organizations provide services such as vocational
guidance, occupational adaptation training, employment support, job
referral service, and adaptation guidance

7. Vocational competency development
services for PWD in Korea
 All the vocational training programs for PWD in Korea are
supported by ‘Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled’
(KEAD) which is a semi-governmental organization under
the Ministry of Employment and Labor. It was established in
September 1, 1990.
 KEAD has 18 branches and 5 vocational training centers for
people with disabilities, and 1 R&D institute. As of now,
about 640 staff members are working for KEAD.
 To meet rapidly changing needs of the employer, vocational
training centers of KEAD have gone through several
changes and reformed its programs. As a result of the
reform, customized training and specialized training course
for people with specific types of disabilities have been
implemented.

8. System of Customized training

9. The operation of Specialized training
< Specialized training for specific type of Disability in 5 vocational training
centers of KEAD>

10. Current Issues & Future Directions
1. Promoting private-public cooperation in employment service
delivery system : improving employability by providing
professional technical courses and strengthening
customized training courses with enterprises.
2. Activating specialized training courses for people with pecific
disabilities who need additional accommodations for their
training and employment.
3. Activating cyber on-line education and rehabilitation
programs for PWD.
4.Enhancement of status of the Korean technicians in the world
: providing winners of the World Skills Competition for the
Disabled five times with incentives to encourage them in
perfecting their skills