Post date: Jun 18, 2012 7:17:26 PM
South Korea's first blind news presenter, who reads Braille on air, hopes to inspire those living with disabilities.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - Twenty-seven-year-old Lee Chang-hoon is legally blind - but has a very visual job.
He is a news anchor for South Korea's biggest broadcaster KBS.
Instead of a teleprompter Lee uses a Braille instrument to read the news.
Now seven months into the job, Lee is the only blind news anchor in the world.
Lee Chang-hoon, Blind News Presenter of South Korea's state-run broadcaster KBS, saying
"Some people said they were too anxious to watch me anchoring news for the first couple of months, worrying about whether I would make any mistakes. They were paying attention to me, rather than the news."
The job was sparked after a South Korean law that requires companies to employ more people with impairments.
Out of 500 applicants Lee got the news anchor job with the backing of Lim Heung-sun, director of the news center at KBS.
Lim Heung-sun, Director of News Centre of South Korea's state-run broadcaster KBS, saying
"He's in charge of one news segment called 'Living and Economy.' However, if he develops himself further, then I expect him to become a news presenter performing in wider range of areas."
His main challenge, Lee says, is his posture and facial expressions on air as he cannot see what he looks like.
But he says that's just a minor obstacle as he has the ability to inspire and instill positive change in society.
Elly Park, Reuters.