About five years ago, Jessica Wood, a British expat living in South Korea, learned that her then 1-year-old daughter had cerebral palsy. Wood had been living in Korea for four years prior to having her child here. But even to this day, her daughter cannot be legally recognized as a disabled person in the country because she is not a South Korean national.

Without recognition of her daughter’s status, Wood and her husband -- who is also a British national -- cannot get a parking permit, even though their child, now 6, is a wheelchair user. They cannot get government subsidies on essential assistive technologies such as Ankle Foot Orthoses, which are special shoes for children with cerebral palsy that cost about 500,000 won ($440). The shoes need to be replaced every year.

“It was so difficult for her to become certified as needing special education, since she is not ‘disabled,’” Wood told The Korea Herald. “We constantly have to fill out huge complicated forms in Korean, for which we need translation services. Really, it is very difficult for us.”

Wood is one of presumably many foreign expat parents who cannot have their children legally recognized as a disabled person here. The Welfare Ministry currently has no statistics on disabled children born to foreign-born, non-Korean parents in South Korea.

According to Yang Jong-su, an official from the Welfare Ministry’s Division of Policy for Persons with Disabilities, South Korea currently does not grant disabled status to F-3 visa holders, who are non-Koreans accompanying spouses or children of foreign-born residents (F-2 visa holders) here.

Only overseas Koreans (F-4), marriage immigrants (F-6) and permanent residents (F-5) are eligible to apply for disabled status and government benefits in Korea according to current laws, he added.

Human rights experts said the current legislation goes against the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which South Korea signed onto in 1990. Its Article 23 states that state parties must recognize that “a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community.”

“I have to look into the situation more thoroughly in order to comment, but if children of F-2 visa holders are being denied from medical benefits, I’d say the current legislations are discriminatory,” said human rights lawyer Kim Jong-chul.

Wood, who had been living in Korea as a temporary work visa (E-2) holder prior to her daughter’s diagnosis, only decided to obtain her F-2 visa in order to get her daughter recognized as a person with disability. But upon obtaining her F-2 visa after studying for months to pass the required Korean language proficiency test, she was told she still could not register her daughter as disabled.

“I was rejected again, because she was only a dependent of a resident (F-3), and not technically a resident in her own right,” she said. “A child cannot apply for residency.”

Currently, the only way for Wood to receive government aid for her child is to obtain an F-5 visa, which is permanent residency. “But this will be at the discretion of immigration,” she said. “The criteria for this visa revolves around how the applicant (can) give benefit to Korea. Therefore, the family of a disabled child is unlikely to be granted this visa.”

Official Yang from the Health Ministry said the experience of Wood and her daughter is not a “common case” in South Korea. “I will have to research the current legislation in order to comment on the matter,” he said, when asked if he thinks the current practice goes against the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)

The name of the interviewed source has been changed upon request. --Ed.