2021-03-12 11:01:48
Kim Yewon, a lawyer who lost sight in one eye due to a birth-related medical incident, turned a personal experience of social stigma into a lifelong commitment to public interest law. Rather than pursuing a more lucrative private practice, she founded the Disability Rights Law Center to provide on-the-ground legal support for people with disabilities, children and women. Working between Gwangju and Seoul and running her practice from a room in her home while raising three children, Kim has handled over 1,000 legal matters, including cases of financial exploitation against intellectually disabled clients that she successfully exposed through careful evidence work.
Kim treats law as a practical tool for social change and has combined individual casework with active participation in the legislative process. Her work helped change rules to allow some visually impaired people to take a Class 1 driving test, and she contributed expert input during the legislative debate over the high-profile Jeong-in case, warning that simply increasing penalties can unintentionally harm victims by raising the burden of proof. She emphasizes that thoughtful, field-informed drafting is crucial because well-intentioned laws often shrink in effect when implemented with administrative discretion.
Despite growing public interest in minority and victim issues after headline cases, Kim notes that attention is often short-lived and implementation gaps persist—such as when laws intended to require accessibility features leave room for local authorities to opt out. Her clinic receives many inquiries but must triage cases due to limited resources; income comes mainly from lectures and government advisory work. Balancing heavy demand with family life and constrained funding, Kim remains focused on supporting the most vulnerable and pushing for laws and practices that work in reality, not just on paper.
Original source: “인권, 거창함 경계…누구나 알지만 지속이 힘든 삶의 이야기죠” [피플 & 스토리-장애인권법센터 김예원 변호사] (Source: the news outlet; please refer to the original article.)
