Government Takes Action to Prevent Child Abuse Recurrence... "Immediate Separation System Introduction Planned"

7th Social Relations Ministers' Meeting on the 12th at Sejong Government Complex
Agenda 1: Child Abuse Prevention Measures

Announcement of Emergency Response Plans Including Early Detection of At-Risk Children
Report and Sharing of Social Policy Cases in Response to COVID-19

Eun-Hye Yoo, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The introduction of an 'immediate separation system' that separates children from their families as soon as child abuse is detected is being promoted. The government plans to announce a comprehensive inter-ministerial plan to support children who are victims of child abuse soon.

On the 12th, the Ministry of Education held the 7th Social Relations Ministers' Meeting at the Government Complex Sejong with this agenda.

The first agenda item was measures to prevent child abuse. First, to detect child abuse early, high-risk children will be proactively identified and investigated using variables such as location and age. Information such as missed vaccinations or infant health checkups, and long-term absenteeism will be used to select and inspect suspected neglect cases, and a full survey will be conducted to confirm the whereabouts and safety of children aged 3 under home care and school-age children.

The police, local governments, and child protection agencies will form joint inspection teams to operate a special investigation period for detecting re-abuse. The safety of children reported for abuse in the past three years will be rechecked, and all child abuse reports received between February and May will be fully monitored; strict measures will be taken if re-abuse is detected.

To protect victimized children, the government plans to introduce a system that immediately separates children from their families upon detection of child abuse, and will announce a comprehensive inter-ministerial plan in the third or fourth quarter through consultations among related ministries to build child protection infrastructure, including expanding child protection agencies and shelters for abused children, and legislating the expert family foster care system.

The meeting also discussed social policy cases responding to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). This was based on cases submitted by 10 government ministries and 13 local governments. Through this case analysis, the government plans to enhance the public's perception of policies and improve work efficiency to increase the effectiveness of social policies responding to COVID-19.

In addition, measures to improve the management of personal information of civil petitioners and the current status of exceptions to national pension contributions were discussed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.