After President Moon Jae-in’s 2021 New Year’s address was announced, the hearing impaired once again showed disappointment. This is because the wish to be able to see a sign language (sign language) interpreter with the president this year has not come true.
Korean spoken by mouth to a deaf because of a hearing impairment is like a foreign language. The Korean Sign Language Law stipulates the right of deaf people to obtain information on all areas of life in sign language, but the environment for providing sign language in Korean society has been lagging behind. Significant language’s’equal status with Korean language’ seldom came out of the legal text.
Organizations that do not provide sign language have been raising the’realistic problem’. They rejected the request for sign language interpretation because they couldn’t have an interpreter due to insufficient budget, couldn’t it be viewed in subtitles, or if an interpreter was added to the video, it would hurt the screen. From the standpoint of a deaf, it is difficult to find out the meaning and interpretation of the speaker’s expression or attitude without simultaneous sign language interpretation, and it is common sense to organize a related budget. However, these demands have been treated as ancillary demands with low priority.
The point when common sense began to change is in 2020. Public institutions that have been confronted with the demand for sign language interpretation have initiated sign language interpretation in earnest. The National Assembly, which did not budge at the request of active lawmakers as well as groups with disabilities, introduced sign language interpretation at a press conference in August last year. Following former lawmaker Choo Hye-seon, Justice Party lawmaker Jang Hye-young, who proposed the law related to sign language interpretation, stood at the first sign language interpretation press conference held by the National Assembly. From September, sign language interpretation was introduced on the main news of the three terrestrial broadcasting companies (KBS, MBC, SBS). In the case of presentations by major government departments, sign language interpretation has been implemented since December 2019, and an interpreter has also been standing at the Corona 19 briefing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (currently the Korea Centers for Disease Control) from February of last year.
The expansion of sign language interpreters in the public sector also affected the position of sign language interpreters. It became natural for an interpreter, which was in a small circle in a corner of the screen, to stand next to a government official or a member of the National Assembly. At the beginning of the Corona 19 briefing, there were times when broadcasters only included presenters excluding interpreters on the screen, leading to controversy. At the time, the chairman of the National Human Rights Commissioner Choi Young-ae said, “The principles of non-discrimination and human rights are more strictly applied to the right to access information in a disaster situation. There is” he emphasized. Now, it is not awkward to see the screens where government presenters and interpreters are held in similar proportions. It’s a change that’s been made in just a few months.
In May of last year, the Human Rights Commission recognized the need for sign language interpretation at the Blue House, raising expectations for a sign language interpreter next to President Moon Jae-in. At the time, the Human Rights Commission dismissed the complaint that the Blue House, which did not have a sign language interpreter, discriminated against the deaf, for’sign language interpretation by broadcasters’, but emphasized that the Blue House had the essential responsibility. To the Blue House, he said, “The responsibility of sign language users for the language area should be imposed more heavily in addition to the symbolic meaning of the Blue House.” At a press conference in front of the Blue House at the end of last year, the handicapped rights group’People who break down the barriers of disabilities’ (Breakdown the Barriers) △Arranged a sign language interpreter, such as a press conference by the President, △Signed interpretation for videos on the Blue House website Demanded.
However, on the 11th, President Moon Jae-in’s New Year’s speech broke high expectations. There was no sign language interpretation provided by the Blue House, and the sign language interpretation of the broadcasters who broadcast the New Year’s address live was jagged. At that time, the broadcasters that released President Moon’s New Year’s address with sign language interpretation were three terrestrial broadcasters, including KBS, MBC, and SBS, and about KTV, a public relations channel. Sign language interpretation could not be found on broadcast screens such as JTBC TV Chosun, a comprehensive programming channel, YTN, a news channel, and TBS, a Seoul-based organization.
The appearance of the sign language interpreter was minimized even on the screen of the broadcasting company that performed sign language interpretation. An interpreter was placed at the end of the strip, where the main contents of the speech were summarized, and in a space containing one or two letters. In low quality conditions, it was difficult to clearly recognize the interpreter’s gestures and expressions. In the case of the YouTube screen, a banner recommending channel subscriptions covered part of the interpretation screen. To borrow from the expression of an activist from a disability group, it is like repeating a whispering sound. The deaf people weren’t comfortable even watching the presidential speech to the entire people.
President Moon’s upcoming New Year’s press conference is also difficult to expect for a forward-looking change. An official at the Blue House said, “(The sign language interpretation is not determined) and we are discussing with the broadcasters,” but the internal airflow is negative. Several officials say there are’realistic difficulties’. First of all, this is the reason that the number of people on the site should be minimized as social distancing is being implemented due to Corona 19, which can be solved by adjusting the number of people or distance. There is a view that the Blue House needs to provide separate interpretation for each broadcaster, but there are concerns among deaf people that it is not possible to force all broadcasters to interpret and that some expressions or messages may vary for each interpreter. Interpreters that have been started once must be provided continuously, but there is a message that the scope and continuity are a concern. Without the decision of President Moon or key staff, the situation like the New Year’s death is likely to repeat itself.
In this regard, Kim Chul-hwan, an activist for breaking down barriers, emphasized that “the most symbolic person who can instill the idea that sign language and Korean are equal to the general citizen is the president, the head of the administration.” For years, disability organizations have demanded that the government, the National Assembly, and the Blue House assign sign language interpreters to improve discrimination against sign language. The government first accepted this, and the National Assembly, which said it was difficult due to budget problems, was also changed, but the Blue House is pointing out that the answer is silent. Activist Kim said, “Unlike the past, the perception that public information should be translated into sign language has begun to spread. “I don’t think the Blue House doesn’t know the necessity,” he urged, saying, “If you have the will, it’s not difficult.”
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