The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that partial amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules of the Disability Welfare Act, which more clearly guarantee the entry and exit of assistance dogs for people with disabilities, will be implemented starting April 23. This is a follow-up measure to the amendment of the main law in October last year, aimed at solidifying the legal basis for ensuring the right of movement for people with disabilities and improving social awareness.

According to the amended Enforcement Decree, when conducting promotional activities for improving awareness of assistance dogs for people with disabilities, the central and local governments must include information on the necessity of assistance dogs, prohibition of entry refusal, and other necessary content for awareness improvement. This promotion can be carried out through various methods such as producing and distributing videos and publications, and providing awareness improvement education, and can be linked to existing promotional activities for improving awareness of people with disabilities.

In the Enforcement Rules, 'legitimate reasons' for restricting the entry of assistance dogs have been clearly defined. Specifically, entry to special spaces in medical institutions such as sterile rooms and operating rooms for infection control, and areas like food preparation rooms and warehouses for hygiene management, can be restricted only in exceptional cases.

Article 40, Paragraph 3 of the current Disability Welfare Act stipulates that entry and exit with assistance dogs for people with disabilities cannot be refused without legitimate reasons, and a maximum fine of 3 million won can be imposed for violations. Nevertheless, cases of refusal of entry and exit with assistance dogs still occur in some public transportation, shops, and restaurants.

Son Ho-jun, Director of the Disability Policy Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "With these amendments, we expect unnecessary conflicts related to the entry and exit of assistance dogs for people with disabilities to decrease, in addition to ensuring the right of movement for people with disabilities." He also mentioned, "We will continue to spread SNS content and promotional videos for on-site awareness improvement in collaboration with relevant ministries, local governments, and agencies such as the Korea Food and Drug Administration and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport."