70% of the 'Child Abuse Budget' Operated with Other Households' Resources

Among the total budget of 54.623 billion KRW, only 17.2 billion KRW allocated to the Ministry of Health and Welfare
Reliance on Crime Victim Protection and Lottery Fund
Meanwhile, abuse cases increase annually
Government urgently needs to establish unified policy

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee]"Since the already limited budget is tied up in funds, securing project expenses is like trying to catch stars in the sky. We receive 33 million KRW annually to cover investigations on children, family support, and emergency medical expenses, but it is far from sufficient. There are as many as 624 children under management, which means the support per child is only about 50,000 KRW. We should be focusing more on managing the children, but since there is no operating budget immediately available, we are busy going around the community seeking donations."

A (47) working at a child protection specialized institution located in Seoul expressed frustration. Due to the budget accounting for child abuse prevention, investigation, and treatment being scattered across various ministries, it is difficult to establish mid- to long-term project plans. Although child abuse cases are increasing every year, there is no lead ministry to proactively drive the projects, making follow-up management challenging.

◆General accounting budget is ‘meager’, relying on lottery funds= Most of the budget related to child abuse is drawn not from the government’s general accounting budget but from the Crime Victim Protection Fund and lottery funds.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 4th, the majority of the total budget allocated this year for child abuse-related projects (54.623 billion KRW) depends on the Crime Victim Protection Fund and lottery funds. Of the total child abuse budget, the lead ministry’s general accounting budget is only 17.2 billion KRW, while 28.7 billion KRW and 8.7 billion KRW are drawn from the Crime Victim Protection Fund and lottery funds, respectively. The largest share is held by the Crime Victim Protection Fund (52.6%), not the lead ministry, the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The remainder is filled by general accounting (31.5%) and lottery funds (15.9%). Among the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s budget (excluding supplementary budgets) of 88.9751 trillion KRW, the budget related to child abuse accounts for only 0.0006%.

Last year, amid continuous nationwide reports of child abuse cases such as the Jeong In case and the death of a 3-year-old girl in Gumi, Gyeongbuk, there are calls to unify the ‘money bag’ and establish mid- to long-term policies. Since child abuse is increasing annually and is recognized as a serious social problem, there is a need to establish a lead ministry and consistent budget policies. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s ‘Status of Protection for Abused Children’ data, cases finally judged as child abuse surged by more than 156%, from 11,715 cases in 2015 to 30,045 cases in 2019.

◆Government pushes for ‘unification of child abuse budget’= The problem is that the child abuse-related budget is inconsistent and follow-up management is difficult. The Crime Victim Protection Fund is accumulated by deducting 8% from fines, so its size fluctuates depending on related revenue. The lottery fund also operates various projects for low-income groups, the disabled, and others, so it is structurally difficult to significantly increase the child abuse budget alone. Furthermore, the fund does not uniformly support specific projects but requires the committee to allocate related budgets annually.

Internally, it is recognized that the three related ministries?the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Economy and Finance?face difficulties from budgeting to follow-up management during their consultations. A government official said, "There is consensus on the need to transfer the Crime Victim Protection Fund portion to the general accounting budget," adding, "We plan to establish mid- to long-term measures through stable revenue sources." Deputy Minister Ando Geol of the Ministry of Economy and Finance previously stated, "We will integrate and reorganize related projects currently carried out separately through general accounting, the Crime Victim Protection Fund, and lottery funds to maximize the efficiency and synergy of financial support."

Experts also point out that because accounting accounts are scattered, it is difficult to significantly increase the budget and administrative efficiency declines. Professor Kim Yuntae of the Department of Sociology at Korea University emphasized, "It is problematic that the budget size varies greatly depending on the fund’s condition. Priorities should be set to incorporate it into the general accounting budget for long-term management."

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