The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (Chairperson Lee Sungho) recommended Ministers of Health and Welfare and Education to provide subsidies for childcare and education to children who are born from Korean living abroad and currently living in Korea, concluding that excluding them from the beneficiary amount to violation of equal right without reasonable ground pursuant to article 2.3 of the National Human Rights Commission Act.
The Complainant, Mr. OH, filed a complaint to the Commission in March 2015, claiming that it is unfair that his grand child who was born in Japan and currently living in Korea with Korean nationality and resident registration number is not receiving subsidies for childcare.
In response to the complaint, the Ministry of Health and Welfare maintains its stance that providing subsidies for childcare is one of the means to strengthen nation’s responsibility to invest for future human resource, and providing subsidies to Korean national living abroad whose will to continue to reside in Korea is unclear has to be reviewed carefully, needing social consensus.
However, investigations of the Commission shows that article 34.1 of Infant Care Act and 24.1 of Early Childhood Education Act do not include provisions that explicitly state that children who are born from Korean nationals living abroad and currently living in Korea are excluded from the beneficiary of mandatory childcare and education. In addition, subsidies for childcare and education are provided when children are attending daycare center or kindergarten, regardless of income or property of their parents.
The Commission concluded that as the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Education stated, providing subsidies for children is a state responsibility to nurture future human resources, and such subsidies should be provided to every children living in Korea with Korean nationality and no social consensus is needed on whether to provide benefits to them or not. The Commission also concluded that excluding them from benefits of childcare and education violates article 26 of the UN CRC.
