Minister Won visits youth shelter amid heat wave to check on at-risk teens

Gender Equality and Family Minister Won Min-kyung is visiting a youth shelter to inspect heat wave response measures and safety conditions for teenagers living outside their homes, amid relentless heat.

According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Won is scheduled to visit a youth shelter in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, on Friday afternoon.

Youth shelters are residential facilities that identify and protect teenagers in crisis — such as runaways — and support independent living. The visit was arranged to assess how shelters are responding to heat-related illness among youth outside the home and to hear about challenges on the ground.

There are currently 139 youth shelters operating nationwide. The ministry is advancing a facility-improvement project to prepare shelters for summer natural disasters, including heat waves and heavy rainfall. This year, it has secured a budget of 500 million won ($351,000) to support facility upgrades.

"The safety of young people living outside their homes and shelter workers is paramount amid the ongoing heat wave," Won said. "The ministry will continue conducting on-site inspections to ensure that heat-related harm does not occur at facilities protecting vulnerable groups — including youth outside the home, single-parent families and victims of gender-based violence."