South Korea's folk village scraps 'ghost discipline' program after child abuse complaints

The Korean Folk Village is scrapping its "ghost discipline" program — designed to help parents correct their children's bad habits — after a handful of complaints accused it of child abuse.

According to the Korean Folk Village, the controversy escalated from complaints to a formal police complaint, prompting the venue to end the program Sunday, ahead of its originally scheduled run.

Yongin city dispatched four civil servants to the folk village Monday afternoon in response to complaints demanding the program be halted on child abuse grounds. The officials spent about four hours reviewing how the program was run and its overall operations.

The central government also weighed in. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family recently received complaints about the event and referred the matter to the Ministry of Justice to assess whether it raised any legal issues. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it needed to consider whether the event warranted a legal response.

At the center of the controversy is "Ghost Discipline," part of the folk village's broader ghost-themed event series. The program has actors in ghost costumes frighten children at parents' request to teach them better behavior. If a parent says their child refuses to eat, for example, a costumed actor shouts at the child to finish the meal.

Actors do not approach children unsolicited or continue frightening a child who is visibly distressed. They also calibrate their performance based on each child's reaction.

The folk village said the program was conducted "only when parents personally applied and gave their consent," adding that it "followed internal guidelines, including stopping immediately if a child became severely frightened."

Police said they plan to continue reviewing whether charges of emotional child abuse can be established against those named in the complaint and related parties.

Kim Myeong-seop, a senior attorney at law firm Jaegeon, said the standards and scope of child abuse are being applied too broadly, describing the current situation as "a transitional period as legal frameworks take hold amid growing public attention to child abuse." Kim added that while the case may be worth examining under child abuse statutes, "it seems unreasonable, from a social standpoint, to charge a ghost with child abuse."