[Hang on] Hwang Jae-yeon, president of the Korea Association of Physically Handicapped Persons, said, "Please come out. I can do anything".

■ Broadcast: YTN Radio FM 94.5 (20:20-21:00)
■ Date: October 13, 2024 (Sunday)
■ Proceedings: Professor Lee Seong-gyu
■ Talk: Hwang Jae-yeon, Senior Vice President of the Seoul Sports Council and Chairman of the Jiji Association

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

◆ Professor Lee Seong-gyu (hereinafter referred to as Lee Seong-gyu): Interest is the work of giving up a place of mind for another person. Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu also said, "Human relationships made by emptying are the world." Lee Sung Kyu's happy comma, wait a minute. <There's no one like this.> Today, we have invited a person who has been giving up a place for the disabled for a long time. Let's talk with Hwang Jae-yeon, the president of the Korea Association for the Disabled, and the senior vice president of the Seoul Sports Council for the Disabled. Hello?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon (hereinafter referred to as Hwang Jae-yeon), Senior Vice President of the Seoul Sports Association and Chairman of the Jiji Association: Hello.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: There are a lot of titles as I introduced you just now. Following the Seoul Metropolitan Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities, you are in charge of the central president of the Korea Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities. You've been working for a long time in the Jijianghyup, right?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: I've been working at the Jijiang since 2000. Actually, I've been working for a long time. I also worked as a director of the Jijihyup and worked a lot on the field.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: After being elected as the central chairman like this, didn't your head get a little more complicated?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: First of all, after being elected as the central chairman, Jeil-sung is responsible, and as the organization of Korea's largest disabled organization, we really have to take the torch because we are leading the way for the disabled in Korea. The first sense of responsibility was that I should work together with other disabled organizations and do more and more properly for the members of the disabled.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: If you say Chairman Ji Sung-hyeop, other types of disabled organizations are also very interested in it.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: I'm very interested.

◆ I think it's a place where I have a lot of expectations. How many people registered this time? For the nomination.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: Three people, including me, registered as candidates. Still, 440 delegates from all over the country participated in the vote this time and voted on-site. So when you have 1,000 members, you become one delegate. Then, nearly 500,000 representatives of the disabled organization voted, and out of 440 people, I was elected with an overwhelming 64% of the vote, and the overall members of the disability consultative group said, "Now, the Korea Association for the Disabled has a vision in stability, and a young and competent candidate should lead the disability consultative group." That's what I thought. So I felt a sense of calling that I had to do better in that area.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: As you won by a landslide, that part is also a pressure.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: It's pressure.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: His hometown is Busan, and when I looked at the records, he had acquired disabilities.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: Yes. I'm a moderate disabled person.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: Can I hear this a little bit?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: It's realistic, so I'm a disabled person. Actually, my hometown is Busan. Actually, I was in school in Busan and I was doing a lot of things. I came to Seoul and did various things, but I couldn't get up in the morning. So I kept saying, 'It's going to be okay, it's going to be okay. ’ I did it, but I thought this was not right, so when I go to the hospital, my body gradually becomes stiff because of ankylosing spondylitis. I can live forever, but I have no choice but to go with a disability for the rest of my life. That's what I heard about in my late 30s and early 40s, so there was a water supply at that time. There is no water supply for the disabled now, and now there are severe and mild cases, but at that time, there were only Grade 2 or Grade 5 and the water supply was set right there. So later on, it's going on at the end, so when you die, your body is strong and you die, but you should still live hard until the end of your life. While doing that, I was judged disabled and have been doing well until now.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: If it's ankylosing spondylitis, does this mean that the spine doesn't stretch well and becomes harder and harder?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: In ankylosing spondylitis, all of these joints have soft soft bones, so they can be active. It sticks straight like cement here, so it's just not free to move. Up to the neck. That's right. It completely hardens from the neck to the buttocks, and all the legs later become paralyzed. It's such a scary disease that it's not all you see. This disease can't sleep without painkillers when you sleep, and you can't sleep lying straight.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: I know. And when you look to the side, your body has to turn together, right?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: That's right.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: You can't turn your neck freely from side to side.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: I have to turn my body sideways, so if you try to talk to me, you have to face me to talk to me. So when I always try to talk next to him, it's an inevitable and realistic obstacle that I can communicate smoothly only when I turn my body or the other person comes in front of me. You have to accept that.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: I heard that you did something before you came to Seoul. What kind of work did you do to get sick like this?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: When I was in Busan, I taught those students who worked at a textile factory during the day and came to school at night for about two to three years. I lived like that. Then, I brought a confirmation letter for a venture company today. I was going to do business at that time, and when venture companies were in vogue during the president of Kim Dae Jung, there was a boom at that time. When the boom broke out, I even acquired venture companies like this, and when I went to school, I was running a company that manufactures power distribution boards that supply electricity. Then it didn't work. Actually, it was hard. Even though it was so hard, I was diagnosed with disability and I was disappointed, but the business didn't work well. So I did a lot of things like that.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: But now you've said calmly that it keeps getting worse, but isn't there a time when it's not accepted? in the early days

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: It was hard in the early days. Actually.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: What did you do then?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: At that time, 20 years ago, people with disabilities did not improve their social perception, right? If you look at people with disabilities like this, you're like, "Does your throat feel uncom ’ To the extent that I wanted to hide the discomfort in my throat, I actually just acted like a non-disabled person. In the end, I had to accept what I was going to accept. In fact, sometimes I go to church, and I think it's the power of my faith that I've overcome this obstacle. But what I want to say because it's a broadcast here, parents don't want to admit that their children have borderline or developmental disabilities. As I tried not to admit it, my children became worse and more painful. So with that mind, in the early days, I tried very hard not to recognize disability. Actually. That made it harder.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: Now, I think there are family variables as well as faith. family comfort and support

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: It's all about family power. I met my wife at church. I met him at church and he had a daughter, but he accepted it well. Wasn't it a belief that a family member was able to get through all this by being sanctified like this?

◆ Lee Sung-kyu: His nickname is Superman, but he's pushing for this and that?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: Where did you hear this story?

◆ I covered it. Are all these things related to this faith?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: That's right. There's something I try to keep when I say something. That's why I hate talking from the front and the back. Like I'm trying to keep to what I said. Because my daughter likes art. Wherever I go, I always feel uncomfortable from school to school, but I always go to academy with my daughter until 11 or 12, so my daughter says I'm Superman now. I also lived like that, but after I joined the Disabled Association, I paid my employees' salaries, and real social workers paid less on the spot. So I had a hard time and the turnover rate was very high, so I thought I couldn't do this, so I spent a year or two working so hard as if I was going to the Seoul Metropolitan Council to raise the salaries of the employees properly. walk around like that Looking at it, my salary has gone up a lot. Basically, my annual salary went up by 600 to 700. Actually, they don't really raise labor costs. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said, "It is the first time that employee labor costs have risen like this since the Seoul Metropolitan Government was established. ’ That's how hard the Seoul Association worked on the building, and the driving force behind the fact that we were able to get a building worth billions of dollars for free is the driving force behind our hard work like Superman. That's probably why I got the nickname Superman.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: Now that energy will be transferred to the Central Committee.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: I'm worried. Still, people around me said, "After becoming the central president, please combine the driving force of the Seoul Association and lead it well for the entire disabled," but the first thing I say is to be healthy. I hear the most that health should come first.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: That's right. Chairman Hwang Jae-yeon, please recommend a song.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: I'd like to request Cho Yong-pil's "Dream," which is a song that I really like. It's Taeyeon's remake, but our branch directors sometimes color Taeyeon's "Dream." That's why I asked for a favor today.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: Yes. You just listened to Cho Yongpil's "Dream" with Taeyeon's voice. Lee Sung Kyu's happy comma, wait a minute. <There's no one like this.> We are talking with Chairman Hwang Jae-yeon, the central president of the Korea Association for the Disabled and the senior vice president of the Seoul Sports Association for the Disabled. But these days, Chairman Hwang Jae-yeon will hear a lot about this and that. What do you hear often?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: As soon as I saw it, I said, 'Congratulations. You have to be healthy. ’ First of all, I hear congratulations. The meaning of congratulations seems to erase a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. Please lead me well. Since I gave you an overwhelming vote, I think it is a story that the delegates should properly represent the voices of disability in Korea and draw a good sketch so that the disabled in Korea can live a happy life.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: I received that congratulation, but it wasn't that long, but did you also receive the 2024 Disabled Person of the Year Award?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: So I didn't even think about it, but actually, when the disabled development center came to me and heard that I was selected by various judges, I was very grateful. This year's award for the disabled is actually given once a year as a presidential award for leaving a mark on the disabled world or for doing a great job. As I said earlier, I'm really thankful that they gave me a big award that means that they want us to play the role of light and salt better. I made a commitment to work harder.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: But I introduced you as the senior vice president of the Seoul Sports Association for the Disabled. When did you start working so interested in this sports association for the disabled?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: It's been a year and four months since June 8, 2023 that I've been with the Seoul Sports Council for the Disabled. Since I'm interested in physical education, I'll listen to the voices of the people in the field, communicate with disabled athletes, and see what the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the sports community can do in unison. Also, I took over the athletic meeting so that I could play a role as a bridge to the disabled athletes.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: Do you like working out, too? Personally.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: I don't like sports. I like to watch it. I like to watch it, but my body is like this, so I'm gaining a lot of strength only on the outside and indirectly, watching our athletes work out with the same mind as me and overcome their disabilities in a friendly way. However, my dog's name is Bichon in my house, and I usually do aerobic exercise with him while walking around.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: It's now done according to the conditions of the body.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: That's right. I can't actually swim. The doctor said, 'Never swim. ’ Because I can't lift my throat. Don't swim because you can't lift your throat above the water. I wanted to swim. I wanted to flex my body overall, but the orthopedic surgeon told me that I should never swim.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: You've said a lot of things now, but in Korea, 1 in 20 people are registered as disabled. But you're talking about taking a walk or swimming. It's not easy to see the disabled even on this side of the pool near my house. When I go there from time to time.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: Yes, that's right.

◆ How do you interpret this?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: Since there are only a few disabled people who play sports now, local governments allow almost all swimming pools and sports facilities to be played together by the non-disabled. In the end, the disabled have no choice but to be pushed out. In fact, people with disabilities are moving from gateball, which is their favorite, to park golf. Park Golf is now underway to the extent that it is impossible to build a park golf course because Seoul has no land, and even that, there is a park golf course in Nanji Park in Seoul, and all of them are reserved by non-disabled people, so it is not easy for disabled people to really exercise. ’

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: A lot of elderly people do it now.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: So I don't have anywhere to go. So what I've been talking about is a health shelter, a screen park golf where you can exercise, and I'm trying to make a lot of it so that you can gather and play.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: There are quite a few sports teams in Seoul, right? How many teams are there?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: The workplace sports team currently has 41 players. There are about eight operating items. There are various sports such as table tennis, track and field, weightlifting, swimming, archery, boccia, wheelchair curling, and goalball. About 10 people from the Seoul City Hall team participated in the 2024 Paris Farrell Olympics, and surprisingly, they won a total of five medals. It's a very proud achievement. So, all of this is because Mayor Oh Se-hoon has always been the front-runner to accompany the weak, so didn't our disabled athletes really make a brilliant contribution to the Farrell Olympics? I think it's something that I'm really moved and proud of.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: Suyeong is also in the workplace sports team. Our chairman is not good at that.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: That's right.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: But the PD outside and the team leader of the Seoul Sports Council said, 'Why don't you do a backstroke? ’ Let's try making that gesture.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: Even if you do backstroke, you have to move your neck. Don't move your neck because you have to move your neck even if you do backstroke. So my biggest concern is walking, exercising, or riding a car. Because other things are a little soft, but I'm stuck to it, so if it breaks, it becomes completely serious. That's what I'm most careful about going around.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: That's right.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: There's something in the bones that prevents this shock. Relaxing. I don't have that at all. So it's kind of hard. That's why we always have to be careful in our daily lives. The harder the wood, the more fragile it is.

◆ Lee Sung-kyu: You mentioned earlier that disabled athletes performed very well in Seoul at the Olympics. You need to take some precautions to concentrate on exercising, right?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: It's been 28 years since the Seoul City Hall table tennis team won gold, silver, and bronze medals after going to the Farrell Olympics. The goalball team also ranked 7th. In fact, winning a medal on the international stage has actually paid off because the Seoul Metropolitan Government team hired disabled athletes. So actually, I want to be an athlete from an early age and exercise with a disability, but in fact, I can exercise until I graduate from school.

◆ Because I'm a student.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: But when you graduate from school, you have to make a living. In fact, the exercise is cut off from there because there is no team. So, I'm working with Mayor Oh Se-hoon and the senior vice president of the Seoul Sports Association for the Disabled, and I've pushed a lot so that these athletes who work out can become their teams and focus on their workouts. I think it was a really big moment to be accompanied by the mayor's weak.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: But I heard that there are cases where you can take advantage of those difficulties and work with a job broker to mediate the players and then eat an intermediate fee?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: Is there such a thing? I've never heard of it before. It's my first time hearing it on this show. That's ridiculous. I'm actually doing something that can't happen. The middle broker.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: Yes, that's the case. He told me to be careful.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: What I want to say on the show is... How many athletes would you like to continue to work out and do you want to work out now? There are a lot, but there are 25 districts in downtown Seoul right now. All 25 districts have an athlete's department. There are basketball teams in every 25 districts and all teams. It's all made up of non-disabled people. So what I would like to ask Mayor Oh Se-hoon to make some suggestions through the broadcast at this time is that he would like to create some disabled players teams in 25 ward offices. There's not a single team.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: The Seoul Metropolitan Government gives incentives to those who make it so.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: All right. I clap. Then I really need it. Because even in general companies, the trend now is to discover disabled athletes as athletes and really increase the value of companies. Now, I hope that public institutions will also create a team for disabled athletes and establish an athletic department, so that disabled athletes can work hard in the honor of the district office.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: 25 ward chiefs and Mayor Oh Se-hoon, you will definitely listen to this show.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: I really hope you listen to it.

◆ Lee Sung-kyu: Chairman Kim said, 'Now that I'm the chairman, I must do this. ’ What's going on here?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: There's nothing that I have to do with any purpose. But let's do our best realistically about what I need in a given place. do one's best in reality If you look at it, there will be a reach that I don't think of. Looking at it like that, let's do our best in reality. So I thought, 'There will be a purpose that I don't think of, and I'll go to the top that I don't even think of, so I can see what I really wanted. ’ That's why my basic principle is that. It would be good to go with a certain purpose, but my basic principle is to do my best with that sense of mission given to me.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: Yes. So many things will be done in that principle.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: That's right. That's right.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: You've been doing a lot of things. But what did you feel was the most rewarding thing in your life?

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: The most rewarding thing in my life is that I became disabled. If I weren't disabled, I wouldn't be able to broadcast like this, and I wouldn't be the president of the Korea Association for the Disabled, which represents all the disabled. So I'm telling you through the broadcast.Ma said, 'Let's not be depressed even if I have a disability. Don't be so distressed and don't think you're a failure. ’ I really want to say that. It's just that disability is just disability. ’ If you just accept it, you'll see an exit for me in that reality. As I see an exit, working hard in that reality gives me the motivation to achieve something that non-disabled people who don't mean to them can't do, and I think very good things will definitely come.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: <There's no one like this.> We talked with Chairman Hwang Jae-yeon, the central president of the Korea Sports Association for the Disabled and the senior vice president of the Seoul Sports Association for the Disabled. Thank you for the nice words.

◇ Hwang Jae-yeon: Yes, thank you.

◆ Lee Seong-gyu: <There's no one like this.>You can listen to it again on the YTN radio website and YouTube.