Kim Ye-won, a 31-year-old attorney with the Dongcheon public-interest foundation of law firm Taepyungyang, has become a prominent and relentless advocate for people with disabilities. Known for warm empathy with victims and fierce advocacy in court, she is leading appeals and civil claims in high-profile abuse cases, including the Wonju disability-facility scandal where a man who posed as a pastor abused and exploited dozens of residents. Kim criticizes the initial sentence as too lenient, is representing victims in family-registration corrections and related suits, and works closely with rescued residents as they recover from long-term trauma.
Her drive to become a lawyer came from personal experience: she lost sight in one eye due to a birth-related medical accident and was shocked by the lack of redress and apology. That experience shaped her focus on medical negligence and structural discrimination. Kim recounts everyday barriers she’s faced, such as being denied a license upgrade because of one-eye vision rules, and organized advocacy that helped prompt a legislative proposal to allow individualized assessments for licensing. She emphasizes practical reforms over blanket restrictions, citing international precedents that permit driving with one good eye under evaluation.
Beyond individual cases, Kim is pushing systemic change: she champions a Protection & Advocacy (P&A) model to enable rapid, local intervention in abuse or rights violations, and contributes to civil society reporting ahead of Korea’s UN CRPD review. She views the law as a tool to create faster, safer social change and argues disability rights are everyone’s issue—because anyone can become disabled and society benefits when all members are protected and included.
Original source: [인터뷰] “장애인 인권과 권리 침해 한쪽 눈으로도 잘 보여요” (Source: the news outlet; please refer to the original article.)
