If Child Abuse Is Reported Twice a Year, Immediate Separation Enforced... 113 More Dedicated Officials to Be Added

Following the recent child abuse-related death in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, the government has announced plans to significantly strengthen the prevention system, including the immediate separation and protection of children at risk of further abuse.

On September 1, five ministries—the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and the National Police Agency—jointly announced the “Supplementary Measures for Child Abuse Prevention and Response,” which includes these initiatives.

Establishing Principles for Separation and Protection, and Strengthening On-Site Response

Previously in Cheonan, an 11-year-old child with an intellectual disability died after being abused by his paternal grandmother and a pastor. Despite the victim reaching out directly to investigative authorities for rescue, immediate separation was not carried out, and lack of information sharing between institutions exacerbated the tragedy, drawing criticism.

Hyun Sooyeop, First Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, announced measures to enhance the prevention and response to child abuse on the 2nd at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

In response, the government will comprehensively revise on-site guidelines. If there are two or more suspected abuse reports per year, or recurrence risk is detected, police and public officials specializing in child abuse will be explicitly instructed in the work manual to prioritize temporary protective measures or emergency action to separate the child. Additionally, detailed case information, which was previously handled exclusively by the National Police Agency, will now be shared with local governments, and on-site joint responses will involve collaborative decisions regarding follow-up measures. To improve working conditions for frontline personnel, the monthly activity allowance for dedicated child abuse response officials will be raised from 50,000 won to 100,000 won, and new evaluation metrics for responding to repeated abuse cases will be added to local government performance assessments.

Building an Interagency Information Network to Eliminate Blind Spots

Previously, information-sharing between regional offices of education and local governments was limited to long-term absenteeism among children, without exchanging data on abuse history or exemption/deferment from school entry, which created a significant oversight. Now, when a child’s school entry is delayed and there is a risk of victimization, regional education offices will actively check the child's abuse history through local governments. High-risk children, who are more likely to be left in blind spots, will be jointly monitored every six months by police, local governments, and child protection agencies. The education and social security information systems will be revamped to comprehensively review abuse history starting from the stage of deliberating school entry deferment. When guardians refuse case management, regulations will be amended to facilitate joint agency visits. By next year, the government will also establish 18 customized shelters for abused children with disabilities and infants and toddlers. Within this year, the Special Committee for the Analysis of Suspected Child Abuse Deaths will be officially launched as well.

Comprehensive Survey of Infants and Young Children Under 6 Not Using Medical Institutions

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Welfare is verifying the safety of approximately 60,000 children under the age of six who have not received mandatory vaccinations or infant health checkups. In the first phase of surveys conducted from May to July on 38,555 children, authorities identified four cases of suspected abuse, with two guardians being prosecuted. For the 199 children who could not be reached, the police were requested to investigate, through which the safety of 195 children was confirmed; the whereabouts of the remaining four are still being tracked. The second phase, targeting the other 30,000 children, will be completed by the end of this month.

Hyun Soo-yeop, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "We have thoroughly analyzed the causes and issues in response to the recent tragic death and developed improvement measures," adding, "Going forward, we will continue to build a robust response system to eradicate child abuse."

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