South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled yesterday that only the visually impaired can be licensed masseurs in the country, upholding a law set up a century ago despite arguments it infringed on free employment rights.

The law was established in 1912 when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule to help guarantee the blind a livelihood, according the to the Korean Association of Masseurs, which now has about 7,100 visually impaired people as members.

“The regulation is meant to provide visually impaired people with an opportunity to have a personally rewarding occupation, and assure that they have means to earn a living; thus, the purpose of the legislation is well justified,” the court said in its decision.

via Arbroath