Have you hugged a disabled person today?

A "free hugs" campaign spread to Korea last year after several Australians posted a video of themselves offering embraces to passers-by. Now, a new twist has been added to the movement: several disabled Koreans held their own campaign to give out hugs to strangers.

Their video clip of the event is spreading through the Internet. The four-minute segment begins with the subtitle, "I want to know if a disabled person like me can get others to hug them." The group’s trip to COEX Mall in Seoul’s Samseong-dong coincided with National Disabled Persons Day on April 20.

At first, it seems that the disabled persons’ fears will be confirmed: most people just pass the group by, ignoring the "free hugs" signs held by people in wheelchairs. But after considerable time passes, a woman approaches the group hesitatingly and gives one of them a hug. The tense look of the disabled person turns a little brighter.

Then, several office workers carrying briefcases on their shoulders stopped for a moment and hugged the group. A woman who was walking hand-in-hand with her boyfriend let go of his hand to give a disabled person an embrace around the shoulders.

In many cases, it seemed like it was people’s first experience to hug a person in a wheelchair, as they tried to figure out how to bend their knees and lower their heads in the right way so that they could look their hugging partner in the eyes. After the hugs, both parties always wear bright smiles.

People who watched the video have posted such comments as, "It left a deep impression on me" or "Tears fell from my eyes."

Lee Jae-yong, an official of the Seoul Northern Welfare Center for Persons with Disabilities, which organized the event, said, "We wanted to show how disabled and non-disabled persons can interact easily and show warmth for one another."

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