Gwangju City Holds Meeting to Ensure Safe Protection of Stateless Children

Gwangju City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Bang Se-hwan) held a "Meeting for the Protection of Stateless Children’s Homeland" on the 16th at the City Hall Eum Hall with the Counselor and officials from the Embassy of China in Korea.

Gwangju Mayor Bang Se-hwan is holding a "Meeting for the Protection of the Motherland of Stateless Children" with the Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Korea and related officials at the City Hall Eum Hall on the 16th. Provided by Gwangju City, Gyeonggi Province

This meeting was organized to ensure the safe protection and departure support for stateless children, focusing on the case of "Youngmin (alias), born in 2024 without a birth registration, whose parents and maternal grandfather disappeared."

After birth, Youngmin was protected following a neglect report, but when the biological mother left for China, Youngmin was unable to acquire nationality and faced difficulties receiving welfare benefits as a "stateless" child. For this reason, it was also difficult for Youngmin to be protected in shelters of other local governments.

Despite these circumstances, Gwangju City protected Youngmin for about a year through a local abuse victim shelter and continued multifaceted support by mobilizing local government and private resources. As a result, Youngmin was able to grow healthily like peers in the shelter.

While the child was growing, Gwangju City closely cooperated with the Suwon Immigration Office and the Consular Section of the Embassy of China in Korea, continuously striving for the child’s safe protection. Through this process, a consensus was formed on the necessity of departure to the homeland, and at the meeting held that day, Youngmin was directly handed over in Jilin City, China, the biological mother’s homeland.

Ma Xuzhu, Counselor of the Consular Section at the Embassy of China in Korea, said, “We were deeply impressed by Gwangju City’s sincere protection and support for foreign children,” adding, “Although the protection systems of China and Korea differ, we will do our best to care for the child so that they can grow up safely and healthily.”

Mayor Bang Se-hwan said, “Although the child could not receive welfare benefits due to stateless status, the public and private sectors cooperated to take full responsibility for the child and prepare various support measures,” and expressed gratitude to the Embassy of China in Korea and officials from Jilin City for their cooperation in ensuring the child’s safe protection.

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