REVISED LAW OVER CORPORAL PUNISHMENT

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The justice ministry has decided to delete a paragraph in the Civil Law Act on disciplining children. The move comes in response to criticism that the stipulation caused misunderstanding on corporal punishment. If the revised law is passed in parliament, corporal punishment will be abolished after six decades.

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​A public poll was conducted to find out what people think about corporal punishment.

[Soundbite] KIM YONG-JOO(SEOUL RESIDENT) : "If parents are banned from punishing their children, family education in Korea will be shaken to its core."

[Soundbite] PARK CHAE-YEON(SEOUL RESIDENT) : "I believe corporal punishment is absolutely unnecessary for young children."

Parents' right to take disciplinary actions, a thorny issue for many years, is stipulated by the Civil Law, which was first enacted in 1960. Article 915 reads, "A person with parental authority has the right to take disciplinary actions to protect or educate his or her children." However, with child abuse becoming rampant in recent years, the stipulation came under fire for justifying corporal punishment.

[Soundbite] KANG JUNG-EUN(LAWYER (JULY 29)) : "Child abuse cannot be justified through the right to take disciplinary actions."

The justice ministry has decided to delete the stipulation in question and announced the law's revision. A paragraph stating that parents can send their children to correctional facilities upon a court's permission to discipline them will also be removed.

[Soundbite] KIM MIN-JI(MINISTRY OF JUSTICE (JULY 29)) : "Hopefully the decision will help reduce child abuse to some extent. The mere proclamation of this has a significant meaning."

There have been calls that a new stipulation regarding disciplining children must be added, as the abolition of the parental right to punish their children could trigger confusion. However this opinion was not included in the amendment. Opinions on the amendment will be collected for 40 days. If the bill is passed by parliament, the parental right to discipline their children will be abolished after six decades.