Yangcheon District Mayor Kim Su-young: "Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Investigating Child Abuse to Consult with Seoul City"

Kim Soo-young, Secretary General of the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors (Yangcheon District Mayor), stated on the 21st at 2 PM, "Although the government plan for investigating child abuse in Seoul's autonomous districts has not yet been finalized or implemented, we have agreed to propose and discuss with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Seoul City the formation of a joint response team with the police."

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Kim Su-young, Secretary General of the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors (Yangcheon District Mayor), announced at 2 p.m. on the 21st, "Although the government plan for investigating child abuse has not yet been finalized and implemented, Seoul’s autonomous districts have agreed to propose and discuss with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Seoul City the formation of a joint response team with the police to respond together."

Mayor Kim briefed on the discussion about child abuse issues during the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors meeting held in the morning at the Seoul City briefing room.

The following is the content of Mayor Kim’s briefing.

The problems revealed during the response process to the child abuse case last year, which led to the death of a 16-month-old infant, clearly showed what aspects of our current response system need further improvement.

Accordingly, the 25 autonomous districts of Seoul, with a greater sense of responsibility, deeply considered four proposals for improving the child abuse response system at the 156th regular meeting and discussed alternatives.

First, regarding the current status and issues, the child abuse investigation work, which was previously conducted by the private sector, was transferred to the autonomous districts in October 2020. Now, three months after implementation, the field is facing many difficulties in carrying out tasks due to insufficient manpower supply, a dualized child abuse response system, lack of temporary protection facilities, and overlapping investigations and prosecutions of the same child abuse cases.

Proposal for Expanding Infrastructure for Public Implementation of Child Abuse Investigations ? Proposed by Gangdong District

Given the 24-hour nature of the work, at least four dedicated public officials should be assigned in teams of two to allow shift work. To achieve this, one dedicated staff member should be assigned per 25 child abuse reports. However, the current Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s wage adjustment standard, which allows only one staff member per 50 reports, is not even being followed, causing difficulties in field operations in each district.

Fortunately, the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s plan announced on January 19 includes various measures for operating dedicated personnel. The Secretariat of the Council of District Mayors decided to review the government announcement and submit additional proposals to the government if any supplementary measures are needed.

Promotion of Amendment to the Judicial Police Duties Act for Efficient Execution of Child Abuse Dedicated Tasks ? Dobong District

Additionally, to improve the current response system that hinders cooperation and rapid response between autonomous districts and the police in child abuse reporting, reception, field dispatch, and investigation, a heated discussion was held on the proposal to add “child abuse dedicated tasks” to the scope of special judicial police duties. This amendment would grant the heads of local governments comprehensive authority and responsibility over child abuse dedicated tasks under the 'Judicial Police Duties Act.'

However, it was agreed that dedicated public officials would require sufficient prior preparation, such as specialized training, to perform judicial police duties beyond administrative work. Therefore, the proposal will be reconsidered after the government plan is established and if further supplementation is necessary.

Formation and Operation of Joint District-Police (Gu-Gyeong) Response Teams for Child Abuse ? Yangcheon District

To prevent refusal of investigation by child abuse investigation subjects caused by the dualized child abuse response system, and to enhance the accuracy of investigations through prompt initial response, expertise, and reinforcement of public authority, the government announced plans to prepare guidelines clarifying the roles and responsibilities of each party, including dedicated public officials, police, and child protection agencies participating in field response.

However, Seoul’s autonomous districts agreed to propose and discuss with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Seoul City the formation of joint response teams with the police even before the government plan is finalized and implemented.

Proposal to Expand Temporary Protection Facilities for Abused Children ? Yangcheon District

With the system implemented from March this year to immediately separate abused children reported more than twice, the number of children requiring temporary protection is expected to increase.

Currently, Seoul has only two temporary protection facilities, one each in Gangnam District and Dongdaemun District, with a total capacity of only 150 children. All attending district mayors agreed to the proposal to significantly expand facilities to meet the demand for temporary protection and decided to submit this proposal to Seoul City.

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