From
AFP Oct. 30. In the picture, South Korean riot police drag away a blind person during a protest by dozens of blind masseurs in Seoul in September.
SEOUL, Korea — South Korea's Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that only blind people can become licensed masseurs, rejecting a petition from sighted workers in the business.
The ruling follows a dramatic protest last month by dozens of blind masseurs who threatened to leap from a bridge into Seoul's Han river in protest at proposals to open up their business. Two jumped into the river but were rescued, while others torched a van.
The sighted massage workers had filed a petition against a 2006 law, claiming it infringes on their occupational freedom.
"Massage is in effect the only occupation available for the visually handicapped and there is little alternative to guarantee earnings for those persons," the Constitutional Court said in a statement.
It said the livelihood of the blind outweighs the freedom of ordinary people to choose an occupation.
Three groups totalling about 330 sighted practitioners filed petitions with the court in September 2006 after parliament passed a law restricting the profession to visually handicapped people.
Blind massage workers, who are often patronised by customers seeking to avoid embarrassment, see the trade as a traditional livelihood.
There are about 15,000 licensed blind masseurs nationwide out of 216,000 people who are visually impaired. But the country also has thousands of massage parlours employing sighted people, which are technically illegal.
From AFP Oct. 30. In the picture, South Korean riot police drag away a blind person during a protest by dozens of blind masseurs in Seoul in September.