Cheong Wa Dae: "Reviewing Priority-Use Criteria for Public Postpartum Care Centers... Considering Enforcement Decree Revision" (Comprehensive)

President Lee elaborates on remarks about preferential treatment for multicultural families at postpartum care centers
Moves to improve system amid controversy over preferential treatment for multicultural families
Cheong Wa Dae: "Priority bene

The Blue House has decided to review the system that gives multicultural families priority access to public postpartum care centers. It plans to update the priority-use criteria established 10 years ago to reflect current childbirth support policies and social conditions, and to consider revising the Enforcement Decree of the Mother and Child Health Act so that the benefits go to mothers in greater need.

The presidential phoenix flag is raised at the Blue House in Seoul on Dec. 29, the day the Blue House era officially resumed after 3 years and 7 months, as President Lee Jaemyung commuted to work there. Dec. 29, 2025. Photo by Cho Yongjun.

On the 29th, Im Hogeun, the Blue House’s secretary for population policy, said, "The Lee Jaemyung government will listen to the diverse views of local governments, which establish and operate public postpartum care centers, and people working in the field. We will consider revising the Enforcement Decree of the Mother and Child Health Act so that the priority-use system at postpartum care centers gives priority to mothers in greater need."

The Blue House’s decision to review the public postpartum care center system follows President Lee’s post the previous day on X (formerly Twitter), in which he raised the issue of priority access for multicultural families.

Sharing a related post from an online community, President Lee said, "I will thoroughly review, in consultation with local governments and including the possibility of revising the Enforcement Decree, whether there is a strong need to go beyond ensuring that multicultural families are not disadvantaged and give them preferential treatment, and whether the preferential treatment system should be abolished."

The Blue House explained that President Lee’s remarks were not intended to reduce support for any particular group, but to make the criteria for priority access fairer and more reasonable.

Secretary Im said, "The social media post President Lee shared on the 28th about local governments’ postpartum care center policies raised the need to make the priority-use criteria fairer and more reasonable, and to improve the support system so that all families welcoming a child can agree with it."

The criteria in the appendix to the Enforcement Decree of the Mother and Child Health Act, which defines the groups eligible for priority access to public postpartum care centers, were established in June 2016. The Blue House says the existing priority-use criteria should be reassessed, given the expansion and diversification of policy support for multicultural families since then. It also says it will respect local governments’ autonomy in improving the system and ensure there are no gaps in support for multicultural families.

Secretary Im said, "We will establish reasonable and fair criteria through this process and fully reflect the characteristics and autonomy of local governments. We will also carefully consider the difficulties multicultural families may still face in Korean society and provide thorough support to ensure no one falls through the cracks."

In a media statement, Kang Yujeong, the Blue House’s senior presidential spokesperson, also explained, "The point is not to eliminate support for multicultural families, but to raise the fairness and reasonableness of the priority-use criteria for postpartum care centers and improve the support system so that all families welcoming a child can agree with it."

Regarding President Lee’s remarks on public-sector jobs at a Cabinet meeting on the 27th, Senior Spokesperson Kang said, "The key point is not foreign workers; the problem is that support for agricultural, forestry, and fisheries labor is too low. We need to create quality, productive jobs in these sectors that guarantee adequate wages."

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