Incheon, Gyeonggi Province and North Jeolla Province among regional councils lacking disability representation; lawmaker Seo Mi-hwa calls for structural review

The second regular meeting of the National Regional Disability Organizations Council for 2026 [Provided by the Busan Federation of Persons with Disabilities]
The second regular meeting of the National Regional Disability Organizations Council for 2026 [Provided by the Busan Federation of Persons with Disabilities]

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has completed the formation of integrated support councils in all 229 municipalities nationwide to coordinate community care services, but disability-related stakeholders — including people with disabilities and disability organizations — are absent from 25 of those councils, a review of government data has found.

Seo Mi-hwa, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, said Wednesday that her analysis of data submitted by the ministry showed all 229 municipal-level governments had established integrated support councils under Article 20 of the Community Care Integration Support Act, but that 25 of them, or 10.9 percent, had no disability-related stakeholder participation.

Among the municipalities where disability-related stakeholders are absent, Gangwon Province had the most with five, followed by three each in Gyeonggi Province, South Jeolla Province and North Gyeongsang Province, and two each in Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon and North Jeolla Province. Busan, Daegu and Ulsan each had one.

Of the 25 councils lacking disability-related stakeholders, 19, or 76 percent, also had no members representing the residential sector, 12, or 48 percent, had no representation from the long-term care sector, and five, or 20 percent, lacked health and medical representation. Two councils had no social welfare representation either.

Chuncheon and Daejeon's Yuseong-gu were particularly notable: not only were disability-related stakeholders absent, but representatives from the health and medical, long-term care and residential sectors were missing as well.

At the regional level, all 17 metropolitan and provincial governments — counted before the launch of the South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated special city on July 1 — had formed integrated support councils, but Incheon, Gyeonggi Province and North Jeolla Province had no disability-related stakeholder participation.

"The fact that integrated support councils have been formed everywhere does not mean community care is ready," Seo said. "We need to look closely at the fact that disability-related stakeholders are missing from councils even in areas where people with disabilities are being designated as recipients of integrated support."

Seo added that integrated care is "a system that connects the medical, long-term care, residential and welfare support people need — centered on their lives and needs — within the community," and called on the ministry to go beyond the formality of establishing councils and examine whether the structure actually allows the needs and voices of people with disabilities to be reflected in real deliberations.


thlee@heraldcorp.com