"Promoting Child Hatred... Are They Sane?" Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Switches 'Minsik Law Play' Posts to Private Amid Controversy

"Spreading Baseless Stories" Netizens Criticize
Post Made Private After About 4 Hours

A blog post related to the 'Minsik Act' posted under the name of the Children's Reporters Group by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport / Photo by Internet Homepage Capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport posted an article about the so-called 'Min-sik Law Play,' which is known to exploit the 'Min-sik Law,' but deleted it after criticism grew that it promotes child hatred. The Min-sik Law, which has been in effect since last year, includes provisions for aggravated punishment if a traffic accident involving a child occurs within a children's protection zone (school zone).

At around 9 a.m. on the 18th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport posted an article titled 'Is Min-sik Law Play Trending?! School Zone Precautions' on its official homepage blog. The article, published under the name of a children's reporter group, mentioned 'Min-sik Law Play,' citing recent cases of abuse of the Min-sik Law.

Min-sik Law Play refers to the behavior of some children threatening drivers within school zones in online spaces. For example, it includes actions such as suddenly running out from blind spots where drivers cannot see or running toward slowly moving vehicles.

However, some netizens who saw the article strongly opposed it, saying it "promotes child hatred."

One Twitter user criticized, "The government ministry's website is amplifying baseless stories circulating online," adding, "I am shocked." Another netizen urged, "Are you sane to post an article promoting child hatred under the name of a children's reporter group? Delete it immediately."

School zone near a daycare center in Hanam-si, Gyeonggi Province / Photo by Yonhap News

As the controversy grew, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport changed the blog post to private at around 1 p.m., four hours after posting.

The so-called Min-sik Law, including the 'Road Traffic Act Amendment' and the 'Partial Amendment to the Act on Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes,' passed the National Assembly in December 2019 and has been in effect since March 25 of last year. These laws include provisions such as mandatory installation of speed cameras in school zones and aggravated punishment for traffic accidents involving children in school zones.

However, since the passage of the Min-sik Law, some have raised concerns that the aggravated punishment provisions are excessively harsh and that the law unfairly shifts responsibility for child traffic accidents onto drivers.

On online communities and social networking services (SNS), some have claimed that certain children are exploiting the Min-sik Law to threaten drivers, engaging in what is called 'Min-sik Law Play.'

Relatedly, a petition titled 'Request to Amend the Min-sik Law' was posted on the Blue House's public petition board last year, receiving over 350,000 signatures.

A petition on the Blue House website urging the revision of the Min-sik Law received over 350,000 signatures. / Photo by Blue House Petition Board Screenshot

In the petition, the petitioner stated, "It is unfair to place all responsibility on drivers even when it is difficult for them to avoid (traffic accidents)," and urged for the amendment of the law, noting that "violations of crosswalks account for 20.5% of causes of child traffic accidents, which is twice as high as adults, so it is unfair to demand that drivers always prevent accidents."

However, some argue that Min-sik Law Play is merely a rumor based on unsubstantiated anecdotes, and that the spread of such rumors fosters child hatred.

The civic group 'Moms Making Politics' issued a statement in June, saying, "A YouTuber shared a video calling it 'Min-sik Law Play,' which was cited by the media and then broadcast on public television," and criticized, "Inappropriately mentioning the name of a traffic accident victim is a serious secondary harm, and we demand correction and awareness from public institutions and journalists."

They added, "Threatening behavior toward drivers is dangerous conduct that no one, not just children, should engage in, yet the victim's name was inappropriately used to assign perpetrator status and call it 'Min-sik Law Play,'" calling it "a clear hateful expression that downplays the seriousness."

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