Vice Minister Ki Jae: "Multicultural Families Are Valuable Members of Our Society" On-Site Meeting

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] Choi Sang-dae, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, visited the Daejeon Metropolitan City Family Center on the 4th to listen to the various difficulties faced by multicultural families with school-age children and discuss support measures.

This was Vice Minister Choi's sixth field visit since his inauguration, aimed at exploring ways to promote the "Strengthening the Support System for Children of Multicultural Families" included in the new government's national agenda.

Currently, about 230 family centers nationwide provide support services such as family counseling, interpretation and translation, and living information to help settle approximately 1.09 million multicultural families.

Starting this year, a new project (the Establishment of a Social Inclusion Safety Net for Children of Multicultural Families, with a budget of 3.7 billion KRW) has been launched to support the school life adaptation, academics, and career paths of children and adolescents from multicultural families.

At the on-site meeting, Vice Minister Choi stated, "Multicultural families are valuable members of our society, and it is of utmost importance to support school-age children so that they can receive education without discrimination from an equal starting point and grow into future talents."

He expressed agreement on the need to expand education and counseling support throughout the entire school-age period for parents and children of multicultural families who face difficulties in education due to language and cultural differences, emphasizing, "We must promptly improve the legal and institutional infrastructure that acts as obstacles in educational settings and enhance overall social acceptance."

Multicultural families and workers suggested the need for new policy development in addition to education and career support for school-age children, including support for exchanges with local residents and addressing the prolonged settlement and increasing age of children.

Vice Minister Choi requested close cooperation between related ministries and local governments to ensure that government policy efforts are quickly felt on the ground, and promised to continue efforts for on-site communication focused on performance-based financial management.

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