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| The Ministry of Justice is moving to revise the law that gives parents the right to use physical force for their children's education. Korea Times file |
By Jung Min-ho
The government will press ahead with revising the law that gives parents the right to use physical force for their children's education as part of its effort to better protect the rights of minors.
The Ministry of Justice said Wednesday it will draft a bill to ban corporal punishment by parents next month as it pushes to revise Article 915 of the Civil Law that guarantees parents the right to use corporal punishment on their children.
The ministry plans to come up with its final draft and propose it to the National Assembly by the end of August.
Critics of the clause, which was adopted in 1960, say it is often used to justify the violence of abusive parents. They also point out that the clause conflicts with the child welfare law that prohibits legal guardians from "inflicting physical or mental pain" on their children.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has urged the Korean government to revise laws and regulations to outlaw any use of physical force on minors.
"Child abuse cases in recent years have highlighted the need to ban corporal punishment," the ministry said. "We will hold a meeting to collect opinions from experts in children's rights and adolescents themselves on June 12 before drafting proposals."
According to a Ministry of Health and Welfare survey last year, more than 60 percent of respondents said corporal punishment was "never needed" or "unnecessary" for children's education.
More than 39 percent said corporal punishment was "necessary" or "somewhat needed." In practice, however, it is disappearing fast: only 3.6 percent said they actually used it.
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