Korea to Ban Parents from Physically Punishing Children

The Ministry of Justice said Wednesday it wants to crack down on a perceived increase in child abuse by banning physical punishment of children even by their own parents.

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Korea's civil law stipulates that parents or those acting in loco parentis may, "in order to protect or educate their children, take necessary disciplinary actions".

But the ministry says "disciplinary" and "necessary" allow for too wide an interpretation that could include physical punishment. A new clause is to be inserted that forbids it.

The ministry hopes the revised law will eliminate any legal basis to justify egregious child abuse in the name of discipline. The initiative was prompted by a recent case that shocked the nation recently when a nine-year-old boy died after his stepmother locked him in a suitcase for seven hours because he had been "disobedient".

The ministry is wary of scrapping the old clause that gives parents the right to discipline their children since it also encompasses the authority to educate and protect them -- a swift smack may be the only way to prevent a toddler from reaching for a hot plate.

But the revision will make it illegal to physically punish children under nearly all circumstances, and a parent who resorts to violence stands to lose any future custody battles. The question for legal experts is where the line is to be drawn. Does making a child stand in the corner or on the "naughty step" constitute physical abuse?

Children's rights group welcomed the plans, but some feel that they are excessive meddling by the state and even infringe the rights of parents. Critics say that the state is taking away an effective tool parents can use to guide their children in the right direction, while exposing mothers and fathers to an almost infinite responsibility for the misdeeds of their kids if they cannot restrain them.

By law, parents are liable for any damage caused by their children, so that provision positively enjoins parents to discipline their children. How are they to do that if a very wide interpretation is put on physical punishment? One lawyer said, "We need a lengthy debate over proper disciplinary measures for children".

According to the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, 58 countries including Germany, France and Japan prohibit physical punishment of children by parents, and more are following suit. Sweden became the first country to outlaw it in 1979, followed by Finland in 1983 and Norway in 1987.

Japan prohibited physical punishment of children by parents in April this year.

But many countries including the U.S. continue to allow it. The U.S. Senate has rejected the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child claiming that it could counter state regulations allowing it. In 1965, the U.S. enacted a law endowing parents with rights to implement "adequate physical force" against their children if necessary and to confine them. As a result, the District of Columbia and other regions exclude "rational punishment" from other regulations prohibiting physical abuse of children.

There is little evidence that countries that ban corporal punishment by parents have seen a significant upsurge in juvenile delinquency as a result.