Adolescents to Participate in Album Harmfulness Review Process and Allowed to Work in Hotels

Exclusion of lodging facilities from prohibited businesses for practical training and education purposes
Application extended to out-of-school youth
Strengthened protective measures to block exposure to harmful environments
Establishment of youth participation regulations in the Record Review Subcommittee

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Adolescents will be allowed to work at lodging facilities such as hotels if the purpose is practice and educational training. Additionally, a legal basis will be established for adolescents to participate in the harmfulness review process of music albums.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced on the 26th that it plans to give public notice of a partial amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Youth Protection Act, which includes these provisions, until April 6. Once the decree is amended, lodging facilities such as hotels or specialized (comprehensive) recreational businesses equipped with restaurant facilities will be excluded from the list of establishments where adolescent employment is prohibited, but only for the purpose of education, training, and practice. This reflects the opinions of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, which emphasized the need to ease regulations to prepare students of specialized high schools in tourism, hotel, and culinary fields for employment. The amendment will apply not only to specialized high school students but also to out-of-school adolescents attending vocational education and training institutions.

Lodging businesses have been classified as "adolescent prohibited establishments" because adolescents could be exposed to harmful environments such as entertainment establishments or gambling game centers. Despite the regulatory relaxation, protective measures will be strengthened to ensure that adolescents participating in field training can work in a safe environment.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family also opened the way for adolescents to directly participate in the process of reviewing the harmfulness of music albums. They plan to institutionalize participation in the review process by establishing a regulatory basis to appoint adolescents aged 19 to 24 as members of the Harmful Media Review Subcommittee (Music Album Review Subcommittee). Through the public notice, the ministry will gather opinions from various fields and, after review by the Ministry of Government Legislation, will implement the new regulations in the second half of this year.

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