S. Korea to ban corporal punishment at home by law
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By Jun Ji-hye
The Ministry of Justice is pushing to revise a law to effectively prohibit corporal punishment at home as cases of child abuse, which sometimes resulted in death, continue to be reported.
The move comes after legal experts, including Seoul National University Law School Prof. Yoon Jin-soo, said the standing law, which allows parents to take “necessary disciplinary action” to teach their children, could be misinterpreted as allowing physical abuse as a legitimate punishment.
Yoon said discipline should be within boundaries that can be accepted as social norms, noting that action causing emotional and physical distress should not be included.
A committee of 10 legal experts, including Yoon, advised the ministry in April to remove from the civil law the clause regarding parents' rights to take disciplinary action against their children and replace it with the right to educate the children on acceptable behaviour.
In Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, a nine-year-old boy recently died after his father's common-law partner allegedly locked him in a suitcase for seven hours. The woman in her 40s was transferred to the prosecution, Wednesday.
In Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, the mother and stepfather of a habitually abused nine-year-old girl were arrested by police. The girl had severe bruises to her face and body and cuts on her head.
The mother and stepfather reportedly told police they physically abused the girl because she was “naughty.”
The ministry said it will hold a meeting on Friday with relevant institutions, including Save the Children, to collect opinions from experts on children's rights. The ministry will then draw up a draft proposal for revision of the law.
“We plan to submit the proposal to the National Assembly at the earliest possible date,” a ministry official said. “We will continue to work to guarantee the human rights of children and establish a healthy family culture.”