Seoul: Nearly 4,000 children disappear each year
Seoul (AsiaNews) The South Korean government and police have pledged to step up their campaign to trace lost children and they have announced a new law to combat the problem.
On 1 August last year, Kim Geun-tae, Health and Welfare Minister, and Huh Joo-young, Commissioner-General of the national police force, officially called on citizens to collaborate by drawing attention to the disappearance of children.
Every year, around 3,000 children are lost in the country. In 2000, there were 3,821 cases; 3,076 in 2001; 2,871 in 2002; 3,206 in 2003; 4,064 in 2004. The figure for the six months of this year is 1,363. Fifty-five children among all these have been missing for a long time.
The government also said the new law on lost children, approved in May, will enter into force in December. Among other provisions, the law stipulates that the authorities should set up a database with all genetic information of parents and their children. Unidentified children and the families of lost children would be asked to give a blood sample to record their DNA on the database. The authorities have guaranteed respect for privacy and that abuses will not take place.
Kim and Huh explained that "under the new law, guardians or authorities at child protection centres for lost children are supposed to report missing children to law enforcement agencies or related government agencies before December."
The new law provides for a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of 30 million won for those who take care of a child without notifying the competent bodies about him/her. Employees in child care centres and people who find a lost child and do not inform the authorities risk a fine of two million won.
"We have decided to expand the age bracket of lost children we are trying to trace," said Kim and Huh, "and consequently to increase our workforce searching for them."
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