Assemblywoman Yang Hyang-ja Proposes 'Five Child Protection Laws' Targeting Abused, Missing, and Disabled Children

Welfare Support Act for Children with Disabilities, Child Welfare Act, Missing Child Protection Act, and Two Cases of the Special Act on Child Abuse

Rep. Yang: "Helping the healthy growth of children is the responsibility of the nation and our enti

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] A bill has been proposed to rescue and protect children in our society who need protection, such as abused children and missing children.

On the 23rd, Representative Yang Hyang-ja (The Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Seo-gu Eul) announced that she has taken the lead in proposing the "Five Child Protection Acts" for abused, disabled, and missing children who need protection.

The bills include the "Amendment to the Act on Welfare Support for Disabled Children," the "Amendment to the Child Welfare Act," the "Amendment to the Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children, etc.," and two amendments to the "Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes."

The amendment to the Act on Welfare Support for Disabled Children is a bill to establish shelters exclusively for disabled children that provide protection, treatment, and caregiving services for abused disabled children.

The amendment to the Child Welfare Act specifies that appropriate child welfare facilities must be "used" when protective measures are taken for children and includes provisions for the Minister of Health and Welfare to recommend the additional establishment and operation of regional child protection agencies.

Under current law, children requiring protection must be "admitted" to child welfare facilities, which causes problems when facilities exceed capacity and children cannot use the facilities at all, leading to the preparation of this bill.

The amendment to the Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children, etc. mandates the collection of specimens and genetic testing for children admitted to protective facilities to support the rapid location of missing children.

Under current law, the Commissioner of the National Police Agency may collect specimens and conduct genetic testing with the consent of the child or their legal representative for children admitted to protective facilities or psychiatric medical institutions who have no guardian.

However, since the legal testing cycle is unclear, the actual number of genetic tests conducted on children admitted to protective facilities is low. Last year, the total number of specimen submissions for missing children, including families of missing persons, was 797, which is only 46% compared to 1,716 cases two years ago. Despite the existence of related systems, they are not actively utilized, resulting in a low number of reunions.

Lastly, the two amendments to the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes include provisions for designating dedicated judges for child abuse crime cases in district and high courts, mandating temporary protection orders by judges in cases of serious harm, and restricting the right of abusive parents to access the Education Administrative Information System (NEIS).

Recently, even though child protection agencies have requested protective orders to immediately separate abused children from perpetrators, judges have often not issued temporary protection orders, leading to frequent cases of secondary harm.

Representative Yang said, "Currently, there are a total of 17 shelters for abused disabled persons nationwide, but they do not distinguish between adults and children, making it difficult to provide appropriate protection and treatment for disabled children. It is urgent to establish specialized and stable shelters considering the characteristics and age of disabled children."

She added, "To improve the severely insufficient number of protective facilities nationwide, the bill clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of the government and local governments by allowing the Minister of Health and Welfare to recommend to regional city and provincial governors the additional establishment and operation of child protection agencies."

She emphasized, "Although active efforts are needed to find missing children, the number of fingerprint pre-registrations and DNA builds is decreasing every year, and related budgets are also being reduced. If this amendment passes, the Commissioner of the National Police Agency will regularly check the status of children admitted to protective facilities and conduct genetic testing, establishing a system that allows guardians to quickly find missing children."

She also added, "It has become a significant social problem that the personal information of abused children who have secretly transferred schools is disclosed to abusive parents. We must protect abused children by promptly restricting the abusive parents' access to the Education Administrative Information System (NEIS) and imposing confidentiality obligations on principals and homeroom teachers."

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