Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities pairs staff with disabled adults for folk village outing

South Korea's labor ministry said Tuesday that the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities held a cultural outing for people with severe disabilities at Korean Folk Village in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, pairing 25 of them one-to-one with agency staff.

The event brought together 67 people in all, including agency chief Lee Jong-sung and union head Kim Ji-eun, along with employees and disabled participants from the Hanmaum Welfare Center in Seongnam. The agency's Didimdori volunteer corps took part alongside the labor union, and employees accompanied their partners through the village's autumn grounds and attractions, the ministry said.

The agency said the outing was arranged because people with severe disabilities have relatively few chances for outdoor activity, and to build understanding and communication between them and agency employees through the joint management-union volunteering.

The agency worked with the Hanmaum center to design a program suited to the participants and to make sure they could move around safely and comfortably.

"I hope this activity became a joyful memory for people with disabilities and a valuable time for understanding and communicating with one another," Lee said. "We will continue our social contribution activities so that people with disabilities can enjoy diverse experiences and opportunities in their daily lives."

The Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities, which comes under the Ministry of Employment and Labor, runs employment support programs for disabled jobseekers.