Busan City Operates Emergency Childcare Service Pilot Project... 'Busan-style 365 Open Hour Childcare Center'

Available for Use at Night, Weekends, and Holidays Starting August

Accessible to All Infants and Preschool Children Aged 6 Months to 6 Years

Busan City will operate a pilot project called the ‘Busan-type 365 Open Hourly Childcare Center’ starting August 1st, providing temporary care for families in need during weekday nights, weekends, and holidays.

Busan-style 365 Open Hour Childcare Center Poster.

The ‘Busan-type 365 Open Hourly Childcare Center’ is a childcare service that can be used on an hourly basis as needed when parents have urgent reasons such as economic activities, hospital visits, etc., during nights, weekends, and holidays.

Before launching the pilot project, the city conducted a public recruitment and finally selected four service providers considering demand, accessibility, and convenience.

The four selected centers are ▲Yeonje Busan City Childcare Support Center ▲Saha Eunbi Sup Daycare Center ▲Gangseo Sinho 3rd Booyoung Sarangro Daycare Center ▲Gijang Dongwon 1st Daycare Center.

Any preschool child aged between 6 months and under 6 years old residing in Busan can use the ‘Busan-type 365 Open Hourly Childcare Center.’ The centers operate from 6 PM to midnight on weekdays and from 9 AM to 6 PM on weekends and holidays, with a fee of 4,000 KRW per hour.

The service operates year-round except on January 1st, Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays, Labor Day, Buddha’s Birthday, and Christmas. Each center can care for up to 8 children per hour (3 infants and 5 toddlers).

Reservations must be made by phone at least one day before the desired date of use. Same-day reservations are also possible, but only those who reserve by 10:30 PM can use the service until midnight.

After operating the pilot project at the four centers, the city plans to conduct user satisfaction surveys and business feasibility analyses to consider additional demand and expand the scope of the project accordingly.

Kim Eun-hee, Director of the Women and Family Bureau of Busan City, stated, “As childcare needs diversify, there is a need for childcare services available anytime during nights, weekends, and holidays.” She expressed hope that this pilot project will ease the childcare burden on parents and added, “We will continue to provide high-quality childcare services to create an environment in Busan that is good for having and raising children.”

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