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CCTV to be required at all S. Korean daycare centers

January 22, 2015

(Courtesy of John Seung-Hwan Shin via Creative Commons license)

By Jung Min-ho

Surveillance cameras will soon be required at all daycare centers in Korea as lawmakers have agreed to enact such a policy in an effrot to prevent child abuse.

The political accord came after liberal lawmakers shifted their position on the issue and decided to pass the bill during the provisional session of the National Assembly next month.

The law is expected to take effect in March and some 45,000 daycare centers across the country will be affected by it.

“We recognize the need for surveillance cameras at daycare centers,” Rep. Nam In-soon from the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy told reporters Thursday. “We will pass the bill in February to make it mandatory for them to set up surveillance cameras and to kick out child abusers from the facilities for good.”

After a series of recent child abuse cases in Incheon, politicians have been pushed to come up with measures to stop such instances.

Lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party have already supported the idea, saying it was the “least protection” for children.

Party floor leader Lee Wan-koo said he will discuss the details of the law with rival party lawmakers.

Poor working conditions for daycare center employees are also expected to improve. On average, they work 9.3 hours a day and receive 1.31 million won ($1,200) a month. Critics have said it is difficult to attract qualified people for the job with such poor conditions.

“We cannot prevent child abuse only by monitoring children and punishing child abusers. We have to improve the working conditions for those who take care of children,” Nam said. “By law, we will reduce their working hours and improve their salary level.”

Meanwhile, local governments plan to offer financial support for the new policy.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it will offer daycare centers up to 2.4 million won for setting up surveillance cameras. In Seoul, 2,553 of the 6,787 centers have the cameras in place.

The city government also plans to send counselors to daycare centers regularly to help relieve employee stress.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil said his administration will spend 13.7 billion won. He believes the budget will be enough for all 13,380 facilities in the province.

Nationally, 9,081 of the 43,700 daycare centers have surveillance cameras in place.

Some daycare center employees, however, worry that the new policy will infringe on their privacy.

“I don’t want to hand over my privacy because another person at a different daycare center hit a kid,” a daycare center employee, who refused to be named, said.

Others say it is not an invasion of privacy as their job is not a “private” service.

“If you are just doing your job, you have nothing to worry about. Cameras are fine for me,” another daycare staffer said.