Kim Hyeok-geon, vocalist of Korean band The Cross who became fully paralyzed after a traffic accident, has shared his thoughts on the controversy surrounding YouTuber Park Wi's fall from a KTX train.
Kim posted a message on his social media Monday, opening with: "When I make music, I try not to draw attention to my physical limitations — I want people to focus only on the music and the performance."
"Even when I make YouTube videos, I try to keep my wheelchair out of frame," he wrote. "My channel has a small subscriber count, but I don't think I need to grow it by seeking sympathy or special attention because of my disability."
He added that the moments he enjoys most are playing the music he loves and sharing it with his audience.
Kim then addressed the recent controversy surrounding Park Wi. "I saw the controversy around a disabled YouTuber recently," he said. "I do think there is genuine meaning in openly showing one's disability and talking about one's life."
However, he also said not every person with a disability finds it easy to put their condition on public display. "For many people with severe disabilities, including myself, openly showing the world your disability can sometimes be very difficult," he said, expressing concern over the spread of negative sentiment toward disabled people as a whole.
Kim said he had seen comments such as "I won't help disabled people anymore" and "There's no need to help them."
"I am grateful to have been born in South Korea and to be able to live in Seoul," he said. "Without all that support — from disability taxis to subway accessibility facilities to personal assistance services — people with the most severe disabilities would struggle to get through each day. I am deeply, deeply thankful for that help."
"I hope this controversy does not lead to all disabled people being demeaned or to a worsening of social attitudes," Kim said. "I hope we can understand each other a little better and live together."
He added, "I will continue to live with gratitude toward society and everyone around me who offers help. I hope this incident does not leave too much pain and despair on all sides."
The controversy began after Park Wi fell from his wheelchair while disembarking from a KTX train and posted CCTV footage of the incident on his YouTube channel.
Park said he released the video to push for improvements to transportation accessibility for disabled people and to prevent similar accidents. He also said of the moment: "The person did politely apologize to me, but I couldn't accept it in that instant. I believe there should be absolutely no possibility of something like this happening."
Public reaction turned negative after the video was posted, however, and Park deleted it and apologized, saying his "way of communicating was immature" and that he "hadn't thought it through."
Kim suffered a traffic accident in 2012 that left him fully paralyzed due to a cervical spine injury. He later returned to performing as a singer after rehabilitation.
min3654@heraldcorp.com
