Professor Denied Appointment due to Disability Finally Gets to Teach

Ms. Lee Seon Woo, who had been denied a professorship because of her physical disability, had finally become a university professor. Lee Seong Jae, representative of the Institute for the Rights of the Disabled, had petitioned her case at the National Human Rights Commission. Thus on April 30, the Commission acted as mediator between the involved parties in a meeting, at which vice-president Cha In Jun of Inje University agreed to appoint Lee as a professor of the university. This is the first time that a case petitioned at the Human Rights Commission ended in an agreement between the parties involved.

Lee had applied for a professorship at the department of social welfare in Inje University. She passed the qualifications review and interview, and was notified of her successful candidacy status. However, the university changed its mind and withdrew the appointment, citing the reason that her twice weekly visits to the hospital for hemodialysis treatment as a chronic cardiac insufficiency patient would interfere with her professorial duties.