Blind masseurs jump from bridge

Police in South Korea have arrested 26 blind masseurs who were threatening to jump from a bridge to protest a government decision they say will rob them of their livelihood.

Some of the men set fire to a car and two jumped off the bridge into Seoul's Han river.

Since 1963, the law allowed only blind people to practice the profession.



The protesters said the new policy puts their jobs at risk. There are about 15,000 licensed masseurs in the country, which has a blind population of 216,000.

"Medical massage is almost the only profession that is open to the blind people. The ministry's decision is threatening our right to live," said Shim Wook-seop, one of the protesting masseurs.

The country's Constitutional Court is expected to rule soon on an appeal filed by several sighted people who argued that the profession cannot be the exclusive domain of the blind.