Choi Kyou-jin: "We Must Pool Our Wisdom to Address Private Childcare Issues"

Choi Kyou-jin, a preliminary candidate for Suwon mayor, has called for the government to take a forward-looking approach and demonstrate the will to carefully address issues surrounding private childcare facilities.

On the 11th, candidate Choi visited Suwon's Jidong Childcare Center and met with officials, engaging in focused discussions about emerging issues such as financial accounting regulations for private childcare facilities.

During the meeting, officials stated that labeling private childcare facilities as "hotbeds of irregularities" amounts to nothing more than a "witch hunt" born of ignorance about the actual situation, and called for improvement measures.

In relation to this, the government stated last month that through special inspections of social welfare facilities, it had uncovered suspicions of embezzling government subsidies, including false infant registrations, misappropriation of personnel costs, and inflated various expenses.

However, officials presented a contrasting view, saying "the exercise of personal property rights invested in establishing childcare facilities is being severely restricted, and for survival, such actions are unavoidable choices."

They also pointed out government negligence and proposed solutions including realistic recalculation of standard childcare fees and improvements to financial accounting regulations that reflect the unique characteristics of childcare facilities built with private capital.

Regarding the private childcare issue that has seen conflicting positions, candidate Choi emphasized: "The essence of the problem is achieving the original purpose of establishing private childcare facilities. From a broader perspective, the government must examine factors that hinder the normal operation of private childcare facilities with forward-thinking."