Along with abolishing the disability rating system, I think a framework act on disability covering the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities and other disability laws should be enacted. Current laws see persons with disabilities simply as people who need social help and support, and despite the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2006, it has not been applied to fit Korea's situation. People with disabilities have physical or mental impairments, but that cannot be grounds for discrimination, and they too are equal members of society with the freedom to exercise rights and duties. Yet Korea's disability laws and systems have not kept up with the changed international paradigm, and instead the rating and registration systems treat them as a completely separate group, which is unfortunate. For the human rights and social inclusion of people with disabilities, the existing act alone is limited in reflecting their needs in policy. I think a framework act is urgently needed, so that disability laws and the ministries involved can carry out connected policies and lower-level laws can be organized under it. It should set the basic philosophy of disability policy and the goals and direction of all related policies, so that effective policies going beyond current systems can be made. This would let us respond effectively to social problems involving disability, and help people with disabilities drop the sense of being weak and stand independently as full members of society.

This paper reviewed the basic content of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities and its limits. Various bills to guarantee the rights and independence of people with disabilities are pending in the National Assembly, and I think the most urgent law to enact is a framework act on disability. Solving disability issues and achieving true social inclusion requires that social responsibility be built into institutions, which can take the form of law. But our society still lacks basic awareness of disability, and there is no law that considers the whole life course of people living with disabilities, so a system that governs this from a broader perspective is needed. Meeting the needs of the times requires a more rational and efficient legal system, and the current act falls short as an umbrella for all disability laws. To protect the basic rights of people with disabilities, the most fundamental law must serve as the foundation for all of this.

To add: the abolition of the rating system that the paper called for has actually happened. From July 1, 2019, the six grades were replaced with just two categories, people with severe disabilities and people with non-severe disabilities, and services such as personal assistance are now set by a comprehensive needs survey that looks at each person's needs and circumstances. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2006 and ratified by Korea in 2008, and the Disability Discrimination Act took effect in April 2008. A framework act on disability has been discussed many times but remains a legislative task.