▶ Interview
Yongho Lee, Professor at the Department of Physical Education
Exercise is a critical factor in daily life affecting quality of life. However, the reality is that workout space for those with disabilities is insufficient. Professor Lee opened an “Inclugym” (a coined term combining inclusion and gymnasium), a fitness facility for the physically challenged at one corner of the Gwanak Campus Gymnasium, accelerating to prepare the shortcut for encouraging everyone to participate in exercises.
How are the physically challenged exercising while the non-disabled people diligently engage in physical exercise, adding hashtags in front of newly coined words such as
“ounwan ” (meaning “completed exercise for today”) and “healthy pleasure”? You may have difficulty immediately arriving at certain answers, but the reality is harsh.
This is due
to a serious lack of facilities and programs to bring disabled people into the world of exercise. Because harmony and coexistence are gaining more momentum than ever,
“inequality in exercise” between disabled and non-disabled people is painful. This situation must be starker for Professor Lee, who has been involved in special physical
education for a long time. Inclugym is the only university fitness facility for the physically challenged in South Korea, which was opened early last year by Professor Lee and
the Adapted Physical Education Research Laboratory to resolve inequality in exercise and promote constructive coexistence between disabled and non-disabled people.
“I have led this project for the past three years when a discussion was formed within the department to create a fitness facility for the physically challenged. Inclugym
replaced the place where the modern dance studio was previously installed, and the support and cooperation from various organizations have perfected this effort to create an
excellent fitness facility that stands out across this country. This facility includes auxiliaries such as ramps for the physically challenged in wheelchairs, toilets with a
shower, and button-type automatic doors.”
Inclusion, which is a combination of the words “inclusion,” which refers to integration and tolerance, and “gymnasium,” which means an exercise facility, is equipped with nine
fitness equipment tailored to the physical conditions of the physically challenged, including a wheelchair treadmill, movement therapy equipment, chest press machine, overhead
press, and bench press with a wide backrest. Inclugym users may exercise freely during operating hours or participate in customized one-on-one and group workout programs
offered by the Adapted Physical Education Research Laboratory members.
The 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul was the first sports event sequentially holding regular Olympics and the Paralympic Games, which served as an opportunity to raise awareness
of the importance of sports for the physically challenged in South Korea. Professor Lee, who had entered college two years after this event, received a recommendation from his
father, who was in the sports industry, to major in adapted physical education at its budding stage. After much deliberation, he decided to pursue this career path.
“The Korean Paralympic Committee was founded in November 2005. Considering this fact, adapting physical education was nebulous during my college entrance. However, because
sports for the physically challenged had already been established in developed countries and this path was what my country should follow, pioneering the field of adapted
physical education appeared to be a good idea. Meanwhile, I began to learn adapted physical education in 1997 when I went to the United States for further learning, and that
country at the time was fully providing the physically challenged with sports-related facilities.”
Professor Lee said the Brown Center at California State University, Northridge, is a quintessential facility. Despite its small size, this school assigns one entire building as
a rehabilitation and sports facility for the physically challenged. In particular, its underwater therapy facility that enables users to adjust floor height and water
temperature depending on the degree of disability has been highly favored by many people. The European Union is also famous for its well-equipped sports facilities and programs
for the physically challenged. The London Paralympic Games, held following the 2012 London Olympics, was acclaimed as the most successful in history, along with its
unprecedented sell-outs. Professor Lee credited this success mainly to “sports facilities for the physically challenged, which can be found daily in Europe.”
“A resort in Austria where I once visited startled me. This resort was equipped with a stadium where users can enjoy boccia, a sports game for the physically challenged, which
is played similarly to curling. More interestingly, disabled and non-disabled people were enjoying boccia together. Furthermore, various sports, such as goalball, designed for
the visually impaired, are routinely played across Europe. As an expert in adapted physical education, the overall experience was both impressive and envious, which motivated
me to realize this environment in my country as soon as possible.”
Professor Lee, appointed as a professor in the Department of Physical Education at SNU in 2012, has steadily developed SNU FUN & KICK, a representative exercise program of the
Adapted Physical Education Research Laboratory, since 1997. Moreover, he has led the operation of “SNU Comm Fun,” a physical activity program for children with disabilities in
which their parents co-participate, and “SNU Good,” a swimming program for students with disabilities on campus to expand the scope of sports activities for the physically
challenged, and further integrate these programs with those for the non-disabled people. Inclugym, previously described, is a part of these efforts.
“For the harmonious coexistence between disabled and non-disabled people, we must create an environment where we can get along with one another from a young age. This goal can
be achieved by proposing activities shared by both disabled and non-disabled people, encouraging them to find respective roles and participate in these activities rather than
just gathering them in one space. Sports activities are ideal means to facilitate this series of processes without difficulty. Therefore, with Inclugym as a starting point, the
Adapted Physical Education Research Laboratory and I will continue to pour our efforts into expanding sports facilities and programs open to disabled and non-disabled people.”
