New School Stalemate

[Anchor Lead]

The establishment of a special school in Seoul for students with disabilities has been locked in a stalemate for its 15th year. A meeting of local residents held Wednesday evening was also marked by tensions and even shouting.

[Pkg]

During a news conference preceding a discussion...

[Soundbite] "What are you doing? (Get out.) Don't talk like that. (Act your age.) Act my age?"

The discussion did manage to open but another dispute ensues over who is eligible to take part.

[Soundbite] "Why come in here? Get out. (Why should I?) Mind your language. (Why should I leave?) Don't touch."

Speakers receive cheers from one corner of the room and boos from another. Parents of disabled students say they can no longer bear to watch their children take two hours to attend school with their uncomfortable bodies.

[Soundbite] Lee Eun-ja(Parent of Student with Disability) : "Even though you insult us, we're okay. But we will never give up the school."

However the committee opposing the school's establishment in the area argue the site for the school was originally planned to house a state hospital for Oriental medicine.

[Soundbite] Son Seong-ho(Committee Chief Opposing Special Needs School) : "We are not objecting to a special needs school itself but want to highlight the reality of this area."

The municipal education authority maintains the stance that the school site can't be used for any other purpose.

[Soundbite] Baek Jong-dae(Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education) : "It's basic social infrastructure and it's legally banned to be used for any other purpose."

Regarding the opposing committee's claim that it was a breach of promise to have even begun new design plans for the site, Seoul's education superintendent Cho Hee-yeon said that due procedures were abided by. Following the ruptured first discussion on the school controversy, the second round of talks also failed to produce common ground.