Cultural Heritage Administration hit for discrimination against foreign children

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Sun, October 1, 2023 | 17:57

Society

Cultural Heritage Administration hit for discrimination against foreign children

Posted : 2022-04-28 11:43

Updated : 2022-04-29 16:32

Foreign residents visit Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, Feb. 14, 2021. Newsis

By Lee Hyo-jin

The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) is drawing criticism for its discriminatory policy against children of foreign nationality, which initially excluded them from free admissions to royal palaces on Children's Day.

In its recent announcement, the CHA said that royal palaces and tombs including Gyeongbok Palace, Deoksu Palace and Changdeok Palace would offer free admission to visitors on Children's Day which falls on May 5, the presidential inauguration day on May 10 and during the Royal Culture Festival period which runs from May 10 to 22.

The announcement reads that on Children's Day, visitors aged 12 and under along with their guardians can freely enter. However, it noted that foreign children are exempt from the policy.

This sparked debates among online users, with many criticizing the CHA for discriminating against young children based on nationality.

A coalition of some 40 migrants' rights civic groups condemned the CHA, demanding it to immediately rectify the discriminatory measure.

"It is of common sense that according to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, no children should be discriminated against regardless of nationality, race or gender," the civic groups said in a statement, Wednesday.

"But the CHA's policy on free admission explicitly discriminates against children based on nationality on a day none other than Children's Day. These people (foreign residents) are not tourists who are visiting Korea for a short period of time. They are members of the society who work here and pay taxes."

The CHA later removed the announcement, and explained the exemption rule applies only for guardians of foreign children, not the children.

"We meant to say that parents or guardians of foreign children are excluded from free admission. The fee policy for foreign children on Children's Day would be the same as on regular days," an official at the CHA told The Korea Times, Thursday.

On regular days, Koreans aged 24 and under are admitted for free. Foreigners aged between 7 and 18 are charged 500 won, while 1,000 won is charged for those aged between 25 and 64. Senior citizens aged 65 and above can enter freely, regardless of nationality.

When asked why foreigners aged between 7 and 18 are not allowed to enter for free unlike their Korean national counterparts on regular days, the official said, "Not all rules apply the same to foreign nationals," and did not agree that the policy is discriminatory.

Later in the day, the CHA announced a revised version the free admission policy on Children's Day, which reads that all people, regardless of age and nationality, will be admitted for free.

It also said it plans to revise the fee policy for regular days, which imposes different fees for foreigners and Koreans, reflecting the need to respect cultural diversity.

lhj@koreatimes.co.kr