Controversial but crowd-pleasing, “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” has been the K-drama of the year, topping the non-English series Netflix chart for 4 straight weeks (Lee). The show follows an autistic attorney Woo Youngwoo as she overcomes challenges in and out of the courtroom. Although she graduated from Seoul National Law School at the top of her class, most characters still shun Youngwoo because of the subconscious prejudice they hold against her. One example is the character Kwon Minwoo—a classic antagonist. He is openly ableist, receiving hate and backlash from audiences worldwide.

In episode 7, viewers discover that Youngwoo’s job offer with Hanbada may have resulted from alleged nepotism, specifically from the Chief Executive Officer. In response, Kwon Minwoo asks Choi Sooyeon, Woo’s friend, “Isn’t this something everyone should be furious and nervous about? It's unfair employment."Although Choi Sooyeon dismisses his accusations, he continues, “You said her nickname in law school was 'First Place is Woo Youngwoo Anyway. This is an unfair game. Woo Youngwoo wins against us every time, and yet, we shouldn't attack her. Why? Because she has autism. We always have to be considerate of her and help her. It is an illusion that Woo Youngwoo is weak.”

After the episode aired, the character received significant amounts of backlash. Viewers were beyond outraged. Here are some examples of top anonymous comments from Allkpop(original Korean comments translated by Sophia Ha):

“Tactician Kwon,” 

“When was he considerate of her or helped her?” 

"That ***** never was considerate of her"

“Instead of thinking that she is 'the weak,' can't he understand that everyone is different?” 

“I wish he gets fired!!!!”

“I really cursed while watching him talk.”

Viewers even went as far as to call him “권모술수", or “Tactician Kwon,” a nickname that embodies his desire to put others down to build himself up. The earlier scene reinforces this. It was Choi Sooyeon, nicknamed “spring sunshine,” who helped Youngwoo and viewers across the world realize that Youngwoo is the true victim. In the following dialogue, she put out her overqualified resume.

“네 성적으로 아무데도 못 가는 게차별이고 부정이고 비리야!”

“It’s discriminatory and corrupted that you can’t get hired anywhere with your grades!”

As Sooyeon points out, Minwoo was fixated on one side of the picture. He failed to recognize that Attorney Woo has been and still is marginalized and discriminated against. In high school, her classmates tormented her with a game in which they unapologetically inflicted psychological and physical pain on Youngwoo, and even after she graduated, she couldn’t find a job for months despite being incredibly qualified. And why did all of this happen to her? Because she is autistic.

Kwon’s accusation is an example of a reverse discrimation ableism claim. Reverse discrimination is a term used to describe discriminatory behavior towards members of a conventional majority group. Examples of reverse discrimination include hiring or promoting female employees over their equally qualified male counterparts solely for the purpose of “empowering” women. A more specific type of reverse discrimination is reverse ableism, a type of discrimination where “a member of a non-minority group claims that someone (such as an employer) has discriminated against the person” (Cornell). This type of discrimination is prevalent in the workplace. Employment anti- discrimination law that is in place to protect the rights of the disabled is seen as “special treatment.”

Thus, the phrase “It is all an illusion that Woo Young-woo is weak” is “a statement that ignores the discrimination disabled individuals face on a daily basis” (Ha). By claiming that one has no choice but to cope with the ramifications of the handicaps they are born with, we as a society are collectively oppressing the disabled. If Minwoo had walked a single mile in Youngwoo’s shoes, he would not be able to say that she benefits from this system in the status quo.

The Employment Act for Persons with Disabilities was introduced to Korean companies to combat this issue 15 years ago. As of 2020, “the mandatory employment rate, which is obligatory to hire workers with disabilities,  is 3.4% of the quota of civil servants and non-public officials in the case of the national and local governments.” On the other hand, for public and private enterprises with 50 or more full-time workers, “public institutions account for a share of the total number of employees. 3.4%, and 3.1% for private companies” (Article 28 of the Employment Act for Persons with Disabilities).

This act has stirred up its fair share of controversy. These special accommodations cause able-bodied individuals to resent the “entitlements” people with disabilities have, which could lead to reverse ableism. Some claim that it isn’t fair that disabled employees take up limited employment opportunities in corporations.

However, data doesn’t support this claim, as 6% of the South Korean population is disabled, and less than half are employed (Kim). Kim also states that, “If the disabled employment rate were to increase, it still wouldn’t justify claims of reverse discrimination, but it would make them somewhat reasonable” (Kim). Kim’s statement highlights the fallacious nature of reverse ableism claims because there is no actual evidence to support such claims. Not only do disabled people make up such a small fraction of the population, but they are still not given the same amount of opportunities as able-bodied individuals.

The employment act and Minwoo's argument shed light on the prejudice most have against the disabled. Kwon’s reverse-ableism claim ultimately highlights the effects of subconscious ableism. With both ableism and reverse-ableism coming under scrutiny, thanks to Extraordinary Attorney Woo, we must reflect more on the prejudice we hold to prevent future hurt on the marginalized.