1. Welfare of Disabled Persons Act

This act was enacted in 1981 and amended lately in March, 2004. The purpose of this act is to make clear the responsibility of the national and local governments for ensuring the decent lives and rights of disabled persons, to implementation comprehensive welfare measures for the disabled by prescribing programs aimed at the prevention of disability, medical care, education, reemployment and the improvement of living environment, etc. for the disabled and making contributions to the enhancement of a stable life, the promotion of welfare and increased participation in social activities for the disabled by providing necessary matters concerning the self-support and protection of the disabled and payments of allowances to the disabled. It is composed of 8 chapters and 80 articles.

Each chapter includes;
chapter Ⅰ. general provisions,
chapter Ⅱ. fundamental policy measures,
chapter Ⅲ. welfare measures,
chapter Ⅳ. social service facilities and organizations for disabled persons,
chapter Ⅴ. auxiliary and rehabilitation aids,
chapter Ⅵ. manpower specializing in social services of disabled persons,
chapter Ⅶ. supplementary provisions,
chapter Ⅷ. penal provisions,
The main contents are as follows;

(1) Fundamental Policy Measures
The national and local governments are under the obligation to consider basic policies which contain;
- fundamental prevention of occurrence disabilities,
- provision for medical and rehabilitation treatment or assistive
technology device,
- education and assistance for vocational rehabilitation,
- support for sign language and braille interpretation services for the accessibility to information or information in braille for digital inclusion,
- making reasonable accommodation for disabled persons to use public facilities and transportations safely and conveniently,
- upgrading related facilities, equipments and environment in order to promote the dwelling and cultural life, to facilitate sports activities(from Article 17 to 25).

(2) Welfare Measures
The national and local governments are under the obligation to;
- issue the certificate for disabled persons(Article 29),
- provide rehabilitation services through counselors and social agencies(Article 31),
- pay medical expenses, and educational expenses for children(Article 33 and 34),
- reduce or exempt taxes for automobiles used by the disabled(Article 35),
- train and support in supply of guide dogs for the disabled(Article 36),
- loan funds to the disabled to financially support new venture creation(Article 41),
- grant disability living allowance, care allowance for disabled child, or attendance allowance for disabled persons(Article 44 and 45).
Furthermore, the national and local governments and public organizations, when they procure their required products, shall preferentially purchase such goods made by the disabled or in facilities for the disabled(Article 40).

(3) Establishment of Social Service Facilities and support to Organizations of Disabled Persons
Social services facilities and organizations for disabled persons are as follows;
- living facilities,
- regional community rehabilitation facilities,
- vocational rehabilitation facilities,
- payment social service facilities.
The national and local governments may guide and supervise any person who establishes and operates such social service facilities for disabled persons(from Article 47 to 54).

(4) Auxiliary and Rehabilitation Aids
The national and local governments, upon a request from the disabled, may supply, lend or repair auxiliary and rehabilitation aids or pay expenses necessary to purchase or repair such auxiliary and rehabilitation aids(Article 57).

(5) Manpower Specializing in Social Services for Disabled Persons
The national and local governments shall cultivate and train manpower specialists for disabled persons such as;
- sign language interpreters,
- braille interpreters,
- braille proofreaders,
- artificial limb technicians,
- auxiliary and rehabilitation aids technicians(from Article 62 to 69).

(6) Supplementary Provisions
The national and local governments may subsidize whole or part of expense required for establishment and operation social service facilities for disabled persons(Article 72). Futhermore, all products manufactured by disabled persons in such facilities, and any premises or equipments provided to establish and operate such social service facilities shall be subject to the reduction and exemption of taxes(Article 74).

2. Employment Promotion and Vocational Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons Act

This act was enacted in 1990 for the purpose of contribution to the employment promotion and vocational rehabilitation of disabled persons so that they may live decent lives through the works suited to their abilities and accomplishment integration into society, and was amended lately in March, 2004. It is composed of 6 chapters and 74 articles.

Each chapter includes;

chapter Ⅰ. general provisions,
chapter Ⅱ. employment promotion and vocational rehabilitation of disabled persons,
chapter Ⅲ. obligation to employ disabled persons, and shares,
chapter Ⅳ. Korea employment promotion agency for the disabled,
chapter Ⅴ. employment promotion and vocational rehabilitation fund for disabled persons,
chapter Ⅵ. supplementary provisions,
The main contents are as follows;

(1) Employment Promotion and Vocational Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons
Execution agencies of vocational rehabilitation for disabled persons are as follows;
- educational institutes for the disabled,
- social service centers for the disabled,
- social service organizations for the disabled,
- vocational capability development training facilities(Article 8).
The Minister of Labor, in order to enable disabled persons to obtain jobs suited to their ability, shall perform a vocational counsel, vocational evaluation and shall implement a vocational guidance such as furnishing employment information, vocational adaptation training, vocational capability development training, and also endeavor to develop the types of occupation suitable for disabled persons, mediate the jobs suited to disabled persons on the basis of employment information(from Article 9 to 11).
The Minister of Labor may support disabled persons undergoing a vocational capability development training at the vocational capability development training facility, for their training allowances(Article 14).
Futhermore, the Minister of Labor shall perform supportive or protective employment for severe disabled persons, or may finance the funds required for establishing an enterprise(Article 12 and 13).

(2) Obligation to Employ Disabled Persons, and Shares
(a) Obligatory employment quota system : The national and local governments shall employ disabled persons up to no less than 2 percent of the full strength of public officials belonging thereto(Article 23). Also, any private entities which employ no less than 50 full-time workers shall employ disabled persons within the scope of 5 percent of total number of workers(Article 24).
(b) Employment subsidy : The Minister of Labor shall pay employment subsidy to the private entities which have employed disabled persons over the obligatory employment quota rate(Article 26).
(c) Levy for employing disabled persons : Any private entities, which employ no less than 100 full-time, employ disabled persons short of the obligatory employment rate shall pay a levy for employing disabled persons to the Minister of Labor every year(Article 27).

(3) Korea Employment Promotion Agency for the Disabled
Korea Employment Promotion Agency for the Disabled shall be established for the purposes of supporting disabled persons to become self-supporting through a vocational living, and for effectively carrying out the services related to the employment promotion and vocational rehabilitation of disabled persons.
The agency shall carry out the services as follow;
- research and survey of the information on employment promotion and vocational rehabilitation,
- vocational guidance such as vocational counseling,
vocational aptitude tests, evaluation of vocational ability,
- vocational adaptation training, vocational capability development training, employment mediation and adaptation guidance after employment,
- operations of the vocational adaptation training facilities, vocational capability development training facilities and sheltered workshops(Article 36).

3. Act to Secure Conveniences for Disabled Persons, Elderly Persons, and Expectant and Nurshing Mothers

This Act was enacted in April, 1997, with the purpose of security, safety and convenience in the use of (public) facilities and easy access to information without assistance of others by disabled persons, elderly persons, and expectant and nursing mothers thereby contributing to their participation in social activities and the promotion of welfare, and was amended lately in January, 2005. It is composed of 29 articles.

The main contents are as follows;
(1) Right to Access
A disabled person and so forth shall have a right to use, without assistance of others, the facilities and equipment which a person other than themselves uses and to access, without assistance of others, information which is available to other person than themselves.
An owner of the public building and facilities which are frequently used by a disabled person and so forth should ensure that disabled persons could use those facilities with convenience by providing wheelchair, braille booklets, hearing aids, information service, sign language interaction and so on(Article 16).
An owner of the public building and facilities should locate a parking place for disabled persons(Article 17).

(2) Support
The government and local-government should take necessary measure for financial and technical support to promote the installation of convenience facilities by the private sector and reduce of its investment(Article 13).
When a corporation or an individual establishes the convenience facilities as prescribed in this Act, the tax on such investment shall be reduced or waived(Article 13).
The Minister of Health and Welfare shall take full charge of the matters in relation to the establishment and operation of the convenience facilities.

(3) Committee of Convenience Facilities
The committee of convenience facilities is organized in Ministry of Health and Welfare. The role of committee is;
- to establish of basic plan to secure conveniences,
- to produce a comprehensive national plan for the establishment of convenience facilities,
- to improve the system to secure conveniences.

(4) The Subject Facilities
The convenience facilities are as follows;
- parks,
- public building and public facilities,
- community hosing,
- communication facilities,
- other buildings, facilities and their attachment which require the establishment of convenience facilities for a disabled person and so forth(Article 7).

(5) Penal Provision
A person, who is ordered to take a corrective action on building and facilities but fails to do so, is subject to the fine not exceeding 5 million won(Article 25).

4. Act to Secure Mobility Conveniences for the Mobility Handicapped

This Act was enacted in December, 2005, with the purpose to improve the environment of the road and transportation to have safe and convenient mobility for disabled persons, elderly persons, expectant and nursing mothers, persons going with their babies, and children. It is composed of 6 chapters and 34 articles.

Each chapter includes
chapter Ⅰ. general provisons,
chapter Ⅱ. plan to improve mobility conveniences for the mobility handicapped,
chapter Ⅲ. standards of convenient mobility facilities,
chapter Ⅳ. priority zone on walking,
chapter Ⅴ. supplementary provisions,
chapter Ⅵ. penal provisions.

The main contents are as follows;

(1) Plan to Improve Mobility Conveniences for the Mobility Handicapped
The Minister of Constructions and Transportation shall make every 5 year plan to improve mobility conveniences. This plan consists of basic plan to secure mobility conveniences, the establishment and supervision of convenient mobility facilities, field study of the walking environment and improvement, enforcement of low floor bus and special transportation, and so on.

(2) Standards of the Convenient Mobility Facilities
The government should take information system to provide transportation information efficiently. A common carrier business licence shall be given priority run vehicles for the mobility handicapped such as low floor bus more than a certain rate.
The national and local-government should support finance to buy low floor buses. The mayor should run more than certain number of special vehicles for the transportation convenience of the mobility handicapped. Over 10% seats of metropolitan subway train should be accommodated for the mobility handicapped.

(3) The Subject Facilities
The convenient mobility facilities are as follows;
- means of transportation,
- the traveling public facilities,
- roads.

(4) Penal Provision
A person, who violates against this act is ordered to take a corrective action but fails to do so, is subject to the fine not exceeding ten thousand million won.

5. Act on the Promotion of Education for the Handicapped

This act was enacted in December, 1997, with the purpose of providing those who need education for disabled persons with an opportunity to receive the education properly selected by the national government or the local governments and development their ability for independent living, and amended lately in December, 2002. It is composed of 5 chapters and 29 articles.

Each chapter includes
chapter Ⅰ. general provisons,
chapter Ⅱ. selection of object of education for disabled persons and sending them to school, etc.,
chapter Ⅲ. expansion of educational method for disabled persons,
chapter Ⅳ. supplementary provisions,
chapter Ⅴ. penal provisions.
The main contents are as follows;

(1) Budget and Obligations
The national and local governments shall execute the duties of the following subparagraph to develop education for disabled persons;
- preparation of a comprehensive plan,
- taking the measures necessary for the curative education to restore the vital functions of disabled persons,
- direction on the school attendance of the object of education,
- study and improvement of the contents and method of education,
- cultivation and training of the faculty of education or the disabled,
- establishment and operation of the educational institution or the disabled,
- cultivation, development and distribution of the textbooks and he equipment necessary for education for the disabled(Article 3).
And the national and local governments preferentially pay for the expenses needed to execute the duties under the above paragraph (Article 3). Futhermore, the government shall submit a report on the principal policy about education for disabled persons to the National Assembly every year(Article 9).

(2) Organization
In order to deliberate the principal matters concerning to the education for the disabled, the central education management committee for the disabled shall be installed under the control of the Minister of Education and Human Resources Development. The committee shall consider on basic policies about develop education for the disabled, or long-turn and short-turn plan to promote develop the education for the disabled(Article 4, Article 2 in Enforcement Ordinance).

(3) Compulsory Education
The educational courses given to the object of education for disabled persons which are equivalent to those of the elementary school and the junior high school shall be given to the disabled compulsorily, and the educational courses equivalent to those of the kindergarten and the senior high school shall be given to them without charge. The expenses needed for the compulsory and free education shall be paid for or assisted by the national or the local government(Article 5).

(4) Expansion of Educational Method for Disabled Persons
The principal of the regular schools cannot reject the admission for those who are eligible for special education and who want to enter the regular school. The principal should organize and operate a special class for disabled persons, and provide the textbooks and equipment necessary for the education for disabled persons according to their abilities and characteristics(Article 15 and 16).
The principal of the special school shall regularly give a medical examination to disabled persons, and shall judge their state of recovery of vital functions. When the principal brings judgement if necessary, he/she shall give them treatment education or vocational education(Article 18 and 22).

(5) Penal Provisions
No principal of various schools shall discriminate against an individual with any disability regard to entrance examination or schooling(Article 13). If principals violate against this regular, they shall be punished by being fined from five to ten million won or imprisoned for no more than one year(Article 28 and 28-2).

6.Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act

This act was enacted in November, 1963 and amended lately in January, 2004. The purpose of this act is to contribute to the protection of workers by compensating them swiftly and fairly for any occupational accident through operation of the industrial accident compensation insurance business and by setting up and operating the insurance facilities necessary to facilitate the rehabilitation of workers suffering from occupational accident and their return to society as well as by carrying out accident prevention projects and other worker welfare projects. It is composed of 8 chapters and 106 articles. This act applies to every business that hires.

In this text, the main points of this act are disability benefits and special disability benefits.
The disability benefits shall be paid to any worker when he/she suffers from physical disabilities after treating his/her occupational injuries or disease. These benefits can be the disability compensation annuity or the lump sum disability compensation as 14 disability degree of the invalidity and such disability degree of the invalidity s shall be prescribed by the Presidential Decree. Until the 7th disability degree of the invalidity, and workers are able to choose between annuity or the lump sum, but for the workers who have from the 8th to the 14th disability degree of the invalidity, only lump sum could be possible. Those who have entirely lost this working force, as prescribed by the Presidential Decree, shall receive the disability compensation annuity(Article 42).

The amount of the disability compensation annuity for the first one or two years may be paid in advance upon request of the beneficiary. In the event that the beneficiary of the disability compensation annuity dies or the Presidential Decree prescribes, his/her right for the disability compensation annuity shall be extinguished(Article 42-2).

7. The Digital Divide Act

The Digital Divide Act was enacted in 2001 and amended lately in December, 2002. The purpose of this act is to help ensure universal and an unlimited access to the telecommunications networks and use of the telecommunications services, low-income earners, rural residents, the disabled, the aged, women, etc. who have difficulties in accessing or using the telecommunications services for economic, regional, physical or social reasons. So that the nation can improve the quality of living for these people and thereby contribute to the balanced growth of the national economy. It is composed of 16 articles.

The main contents are as follows;
The national and local governments shall seek measures necessary to provide people for universal and an unlimited access and use of telecommunications services when they draw up and implement informatization policy(Article 3).
The government shall establish the master plan aimed at reducing the gap in the use of telecommunications services between social groups every five years(Article 4).
The Committee for Closing the Digital Divide should be established and shall examine matters related to goals and basic direction necessary to draw up the master plan or overall adjustment of the master plan(Article 6).

The national and local governments are under the obligation to;
- seek measures necessary to ensure the use of telecommunications
services for the disabled and the aged,
- provide every people for universal access to internet via broadband connectivity,
- seek measures for developing the assistive technology that can be used to improve the accessibility of the persons with disabilities and the aged,
- provide, telecommunication equipments or devices with free of charge, those who are disabled persons or low-income bracket,
- assist all or part of the education cost for those who are disabled persons or low-income bracket(from Article 7 to 11).
Also, the government shall establish Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion(hereinafter to be referred to the 'KADO') in order to help provide all people for universal access to the IT service and help them improve quality of their lives. The KADO shall have tasks to carry out as follows,
- assistance for the purpose of discharging the government's duties as below(according to Article 7 to 11),
- assistance to international cooperation programs for bridging the digital divide across nations,
- research and survey, publication and public relations sponsorship for bridging the digital divide(Article 16).