South Korea to change child protection rules after death of 11-year-old boy
The South Korean government will change its procedure for responding to cases of suspected child abuse: if at least two reports of violence against a child are received within a year, police and child protection services will give priority consideration to emergency safety measures. The decision was made after the death of an 11-year-old boy in the city of Cheonan, The Korea Herald reports.
New response rules
Authorities plan to revise the relevant guidelines this month. Temporary protection or urgent intervention is to become the first option in cases involving repeated reports of abuse or a high risk that it will continue.
The new measures do not provide for the automatic or mandatory separation of a child from suspected abusers. Officials will assess the circumstances of each case individually. Depending on the situation, a child may be temporarily placed in care, a shelter or foster care, separated from suspected abusers, or provided with emergency medical assistance.
Police will also be required to promptly provide local authorities with detailed information on abuse reports, rather than only the results of the initial response. This is intended to help child protection service workers determine whether a child needs to be separated from a suspected abuser.
Circumstances of the death in Cheonan
According to police, the 11-year-old boy with an intellectual disability died on August 5 at a church in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. Law enforcement believes that he was kept tied to a bed for about 38 hours before his death. The boy was taken to hospital with a temperature of 41.5 degrees and impaired consciousness, where he died.
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A 62-year-old female pastor and the boy’s grandmother were detained on suspicion of child abuse resulting in death. On August 2 and 3, the boy left the church and sought help from adults, telling police that his grandmother had beaten him. Police and Cheonan officials considered placing him under protection but returned him to the church.
Police asked a court to bar the grandmother from approaching the boy, but the court rejected the request. Since 2021, possible violence against the child had been mentioned in reports four times, but the boy was not separated from the suspected abusers.
Additional steps by the authorities
Authorities plan to increase the number of officials specializing in child abuse cases from 750 this year to 863 next year. Their monthly allowance for fieldwork will be doubled, from 50,000 to 100,000 won.
The government also plans to establish 18 additional shelters specializing in assistance for children with disabilities and young children. Educational and social databases are to be linked to check the history of abuse reports before approving an exemption from compulsory education.
