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20 Years of the National Children’s Assembly :

A History of the Development of Children’s Rights in South Korea

- The National Children’s Assembly holds

the 20th Anniversary Ceremony on December 1 -

- Seo-hee Yoon, a teacher at Kiseong Elementary School, and the City of Ikan have been awarded the Minister of Health and Welfare’s Commendation -

The National Children’s Assembly held its 20th anniversary ceremony on Friday, December 1 at the Hotel President.

The National Children’s Assembly is a forum dedicated to the exercise of children’s right to participate at which young representatives aged 10-17 are invited to speak out on behalf of all children and discuss social issues involving children. The Assembly was launched in 2004 at the suggestion of the delegation led by former First Lady Hee-ho Lee, who participated in the 2002 UN Children’s Assembly, during which it learned how actively children in other countries were involved in promoting and exercising their rights.

Since then, the resolutions passed by the Assembly have brought many changes to our society.

“Saerim’s Act”, which aimed to tighten the safety regulations relating to all vehicles carrying children under the age of 18, was proposed by the Assembly (Resolution No. 18 of 2019), leading to an amendment to the Road Traffic Act in May 2020, while Resolution No. 19 of 2022 resulted in the appointment of a former head of the Assembly to the Child Policy Coordinating Committee in April 2023.

This year, the National Children’s Assembly met to discuss the theme, “Securing Children’s Right to Development” for three days from August 8 to 10 (Tuesday-Thursday) and adopted a resolution on fourteen items including the abolition of child-free zones, which were submitted to the government for consideration. The resolution will be reviewed by the relevant government ministries and the results will be reported and presented for consideration at the Child Policy Coordinating Committee presided over by the next Prime Minister.

The 20th anniversary ceremony consisted of two parts, Part 1: Opening Ceremony, and Part II: A Forum for Sharing. Part I opened with a performance by the former leadership of the 18th and 19th National Children’s Assembly. The opening ceremony was followed by the award ceremony in which commendations were presented by the Minister of Health and Welfare (MOHW) to Seo-hee Yoon, a teacher at Kiseong Elementary School, and twelve organizations including the MOHW in recognition of their contribution to the growth of the National Children’s Assembly.

Part II featured presentations on ways to develop the Assembly, as well as a “talk concert” in which children freely expressed their opinions on three topics: ▲ “Review of the major resolutions passed by the National Children’s Assembly”, ▲ “The secret behind the solidarity of the Assembly’s leadership”, and ▲ “The future agenda for the Assembly”.

First Vice-Minister Lee Ki-il said, “I expect that the National Children’s Assembly will continue to reflect the voices of children in order to help build a society where children can nurture their dreams and make them come true. We at the government will keep our ears and hearts open to listen to their voices.” Vice-Minister Lee went on to say, “The government will also do its utmost to make South Korea a place where children are safe and happy, live in a clean environment, and can cherish and fulfill their hopes and dreams.”///