Seoul's Yongsan-gu district said it signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday with local partner agencies at Yongsan Police Station to prevent child abuse in multicultural families.
The MOU aims to build an integrated community support system linking preventive education and welfare resources to ease family conflict in multicultural households and prevent the recurrence of child abuse.
Yongsan-gu drew up the agreement after a comprehensive review of the growing number of multicultural families in the district and reported child abuse cases, concluding that a cooperative framework encompassing education, welfare and psychological support was urgently needed.
The signing ceremony Tuesday was attended by Yongsan-gu, Yongsan Police Station chief Choi Jong-yun, Sookmyung Women's University Future Education Institute director Seo Yong-gu, Jungbu Education Support Office superintendent Choi Do-gyu, Jungbu Child Protection Agency director Im Yong-sun and Galwol Community Welfare Center director Lee Hyeong-hun.
The event began with a roundtable discussion among agency heads, followed by the signing and exchange of the agreement, a commemorative photo and closing remarks.
Under the MOU, the participating agencies plan to connect economically vulnerable households with emergency welfare and basic livelihood support, identify and assist high-risk multicultural families, provide Korean-language education for parents, offer parenting education and psychological support focused on abuse prevention, and run related programs with ongoing case management.
"I am grateful to all the agencies that have joined us to ensure that language and cultural barriers faced by multicultural families do not lead to child abuse," Yongsan Police Station chief Choi said. "I hope this program, built through close cooperation, will become a model that spreads nationwide."
The agreement is particularly significant in that it supports families in achieving stable recovery within the community even after a child abuse report has been filed. It is also expected to serve as a sustainable cooperative structure for identifying families in crisis early and connecting them with the appropriate agencies.
"Through a community cooperation framework that reflects the unique characteristics of multicultural families, we will ensure children can grow up in a safer environment," district mayor Kim Gyeong-dae said. "We will continue to work closely with all relevant agencies to deliver support that is practical and truly felt by those who need it."
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