벽 앞에 선 사람들…그를 위한 영화를 기다리며 [세상읽기]

<em>i</em>nmu <b>em</b>iyu, a main character of a Japanese drama, becomes a social welfare official after passing a civil service exam. She chooses 'stability' over her dream of being a director. Colleagues in the same welfare office worry that 'poor people might not be able to bear it', and vow 'taxes should not be thrown away on lazy people'.

However, <em>em</em>iyu meets people with complicated backgrounds. One recipient threatens to kill herself because she finds no use in being a recipient. Another calls his relatives but they all laugh and hang up. This time, it is real. <em>Em</em>iyu hears news of a suicide, and hears her colleague say 'one less thing to do'. The recipient's house still has a photo of his wife, who died after leaving her husband and taking care of their child alone.

Many cases of poverty are linked to mental issues. <em>Em</em>iyu's colleagues, who grew up strong-willed, pressure a single mother who became a social welfare beneficiary after divorce to find a job. The mother resists, emphasising she is not eligible for social welfare, and develops symptoms resembling 'repli' syndrome after falsely claiming she got a job.

Another beneficiary, a high school student dreaming of becoming a singer, gets an instrument and works part-time to support his younger sibling. He is a delinquent, not reporting his illegal earnings. This 'unauthorized recipient' behaviour leads to repayment of the paid allowance and the suspension of future allowances, putting the family's financial stability at risk.

An American actor, Simon Baker, who appeared in "The Devil Wears Prada", gets famous for his role in the drama "Guardian". Nick Palin, a high-profile lawyer facing disbarment for drug use, is ordered to do 1500 hours of community service at a children's rights law firm. Unlike in Korean court procedures, which focus on protecting the child, American procedures involve separate legal representation for the child.

Palin, like a lawyer looking for clients, finds the child and talks to them to understand their perspective. The child's story varies widely. A father's mental state deteriorates due to side effects of a medication he was taking, leading him to kill his mother. Should the father's parental rights be revoked? Should the child be separated from the abusive mother and placed with another caregiver, or should the mother's custody be maintained, following the principle of parens patriae?

Eager to resolve these difficult decisions, Palin is also stressed. In the film "I, Daniel Blake", directed by Ken Loach, Daniel, a carpenter suffering from heart disease, applies for disability benefits. The UK government refuses to recognize his severe condition, forcing him to continue working and seek jobseeker's allowance. Daniel meets Catherine, a single mother struggling to repair her family's ruined home after losing her jobless husband.

The film highlights the unfair social security procedures in the UK, similar to the 'Daniel' case in South Korea. In 2019, a South Korean court ruled that a heart patient could work under certain conditions and receive a livelihood allowance, acknowledging the country's need for a law specialized in helping beneficiaries find procedural rights.