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Public-private partnership offers better job opportunities for women with disabilities

By Lee Hae-rin

At the end of the corridor on the fourth floor of Seoul's Yongsan Station stands an unusually silent and small nail salon. Only soft, calming music flows in the background in lieu of chatter between employees and customers.

All nail artists here are women with hearing impairments. They communicate in written and spoken language by reading others' lips, sometimes with help from a tablet with an application that directly translates spoken word into text.

Titled "Seom-seom-ok-soo," which translates into "slender and delicate hands," the 13-meter-square-sized nail bar provides free nail care service for passengers holding Korea Train Express (KTX) tickets valid that day. It is the result of a public-private partnership that enables women with disabilities to join the labor market and prove their own expertise.

Baek Ji-yeon, 34, has been working there as a nail artist since April 2021. She majored in visual design in high school and dreamed of becoming a designer. She started working at a factory to earn money for university tuition after graduating high school, but people told her "there are so many people out there who are better than her," both in design and communication skills. For many years, she gave up on her dreams and worked at a cosmetics factory manufacturing hair dye products.

From left, nail artists Youn Mi-rea and Baek Ji-yeon who have hearing impairments check reservation schedules for nail services at the nail bar "Seom-seom-ok-soo" at central Seoul's Yongsan Station, Wednesday. The nail bar, jointly sponsored by KORAIL, the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities and the private sector, provides free nail care service for train passengers. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin

When she saw the job ad from Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) and the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities (KEAD) looking for female nail artists with hearing impairments, she thought it was "a chance that must not be lost." After six months of training at KEAD's research institute for vocational education in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, she officially became a professional nail artist and an employee of SK Shieldus, an ICT company sponsoring the nail bar. She attained a national license in nail art and continues to work hard cultivating her expertise.

For 29-year-old Kim A-ron and 25-year-old Youn Mi-rea, the nail bar is their first workplace. They both remember how happy they were during their first day on the job.

Kim said she had also been frustrated to pursue her dreams in an artistic field like Baek. She has always been fond of art and skilled with her hands since childhood, majoring in Korean painting with dreams to become an illustrator. However, her dreams were let down as finding a job became even more difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"That's when I thought I must hone some specialized skills and techniques," Kim said. She joined the nail bar two years ago and works the morning shift with Baek and Youn. She already owns five licenses related to nail art, but still goes to study after work. Recently, she has been studying eyelash extension and ingrown toenail treatment.

Nail artist Kim A-ron who has a hearing impairment trims the nails of a visitor at the nail bar, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin

The nail service takes around 30 to 50 minutes. A customer may choose the style, shape and supplement options they wish and get their nails done while waiting for their train in soothing silence. Bottles of water, coffee and drinks are served, too. The nail bar is open Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Only about 10 people visit the nail bar per day, as it is still unknown to public. The three nail artists unanimously said the greatest reward for their work is when their customers show a big smile and tell them how much they love to see their nails polished. Some visitors have come back several times, and some have even gifted them with small snacks as a sign of appreciation.

Launched in 2021, this is the third among the seven Seom-seom-ok-soo nail bars in the country. About 140 women work at nail bars nationwide located at train stations in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo, as well as Busan, Daejeon, Iksan, Ulsan, Gimcheon-Gumi and Anyang.

It is a multilateral initiative supporting persons with disabilities in employment crisis during the coronavirus pandemic.

KORAIL provides space inside the train stations free of charge, while KEAD takes charge of staffing and disability recruitment consulting with companies and organizations. Companies like SK Shieldus, current sponsor of the Yongsan nail bar, recruits the women with hearing impairments and fills its disability recruitment quota.

In 1991, Korea set a quota system which requires public and private companies to include persons with disabilities at a certain minimum percentage of their workforce. As of now the figure is at 3 percent. However, only 38.1 percent out of 2.64 million registered people with disabilities in Korea are engaged in economic activities, according to KEAD's latest report from 2022.

In 2012, KEAD and its vocational research institute in Goyang's Ilsan District developed a nail art program for women with hearing impairments to diversify the occupations open to people with disabilities and improve working conditions especially for women, who are more vulnerable in the labor market.

KEAD's latest statistics show that 23.1 percent of women with disabilities are employed. That contrasts with 46.2 percent of men with disabilities having jobs. Among them, 79.9 percent of employed women with disabilities are on irregular contracts, whereas the figure for men stands at 58.4 percent.

"I hope more people with disabilities could get hope and take a challenge (to pursue their dreams). Also, I hope there would be more opportunities for them, as I have gotten mine," Baek said.

The nail salon is located on the fourth floor of central Seoul's Yongsan Station. Reservations for Seom-seom-ok-soo nail bars nationwide can be made via their individual KakaoTalk chat channels.

Seen is the exterior of the "Seom-seom-ok-soo" nail salon at Yongsan Station's fourth floor, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin