Daegu City Assigns Dedicated Officials for 'Child Abuse' to All Basic Local Governments... "Strengthening Public Responsibility"

The first trial of the "Jung-in case," in which the adopted child died due to abuse by the adoptive mother, was held on January 13 at the Southern District Court in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. Citizens gathered in front of the courthouse demanded that the adoptive parents be charged with murder. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Amid nationwide outrage over the 'Jeong-in Incident,' Daegu City announced on the 13th that it plans to establish a public-centered child protection system early by assigning dedicated child abuse officers to basic local governments in the first half of this year.

Looking at the trend of child abuse cases in the Daegu area over the past three years, there were 1,163 cases in 2018, 1,480 cases in 2019, and 1,128 cases (provisional) in 2020, with the highest incidence of abuse occurring at home and by parents as perpetrators.

Some experts believe that the decrease in abuse cases last year was due to reduced face-to-face contact between mandatory reporters (such as daycare centers, local children's centers, and elementary, middle, and high school teachers) and children.

Following the revision of the Child Welfare Act in April last year, the investigation of child abuse and protective separation measures, which were previously conducted by private organizations (Child Protection Agencies), were transferred to basic local governments starting in October when the revised law took effect, thereby strengthening the public responsibility of local governments.

35 Dedicated Child Abuse Officers and 33 Child Protection Specialists to be additionally assigned

Daegu City has assigned 13 dedicated child abuse officers and 11 child protection specialists to two pilot districts (Dalseo-gu and Dalseong-gun), and since October 1 last year, they have been conducting on-site child abuse investigations and police accompaniment with the cooperation of Child Protection Agencies.

To establish a public-centered child protection response system early, the city plans to promptly assign 35 dedicated child abuse officers and 33 child protection specialists across all districts and counties.

In particular, Dalseo-gu has established a more proactive child abuse response system than other cities and provinces by assigning 10 dedicated child abuse officers, which is two more than the assigned staff of 8, and received the '2020 Public Child Protection System Establishment Municipality Award' (with a prize of 20 million KRW) from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

To ensure rapid response when suspected child abuse occurs, since the 4th of this month, for three months, employees from district, county, and town offices have been directly visiting the residences of 1,164 high-risk children to inspect their caregiving environments, and if unconfirmed, they refer the cases to the police for investigation, thereby operating a continuous cooperation system.

Immediate separation upon twice-yearly reports following law revision... Expansion of shelters for abused children

Currently, in the Daegu area, two shelters for abused children and one temporary protection facility are operated for emergency protection, counseling, and treatment of abused children. The facilities have a capacity of 40 children, with 21 currently admitted and cared for by 25 dedicated staff members.

Daegu City plans to further expand shelters for abused children, anticipating an increase in emergency admissions due to the immediate separation system applied to children reported two or more times within a year, as stipulated by the revised Child Welfare Act effective from March this year.

Heads of institutions to which mandatory reporters of child abuse (teachers, medical personnel, emergency responders, and 24 other occupational groups) belong are required to conduct at least one hour of child abuse prevention education annually, and ongoing child abuse prevention campaigns and citizen education are being conducted.

To address blind spots in child care caused by COVID-19, Daegu City explained that it is promoting the 'Gap Care' project, which allows children to receive emergency care at nearby local children's centers or community care centers whenever necessary, thereby strengthening more comprehensive care and child abuse prevention.

Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin stated, "The safety and rights protection of children is the heaviest responsibility of local government heads," and urged citizens to pay attention, saying, "The interest of all citizens is necessary to quickly discover children in distress."

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