Korea’s two main parties apologized Wednesday to the public for failing to secure a majority vote a day earlier for the bill mandating CCTV at all child care centers.

But the apology from Saenuri floor leader Rep. Yoo Seong-min sparked a public backlash, as he hinted at the possibility that there were lobbying activities from owners of day care centers to hamper passage of the bill.

Though Yoo stressed that many Saenuri lawmakers held firm convictions that human rights could be breached if the surveillance cameras are installed, he neither denied nor confirmed pressure from the child care center industry.
 

“(I don’t know) if the pressures from nurseries or kindergartens somewhat affected (the parliamentary rejection),” Yoo said in the meeting of party leaders.

Saying that the Saenuri Party should also be held accountable for failing to pass the bill, he promised to offer more opportunities for debates in the coming April extraordinary session of the National Assembly.

While the main opposition New Politics Alliance for New Democracy also apologized, young parents’ anger at politicians appeared to grow.

Parents’ groups denounced lawmakers for not taking appropriate countermeasures against abuses by nursery employees on young children despite a series of high-profile child abuse incidents.

“(Many lawmakers) are not ignorant of children’s human rights as they regard the day care centers as part of teachers’ private lives,” parents’ group Haneul Sopoong said in a statement.

Some raised the speculation that lawmakers made a dubious “political decision” ahead of the April 29 by-elections.

“It seems that the Saenuri Party was seeking to take the initiative in passing the CCTV bill in the April session right before the elections,” one netizen claimed.

Opponents of the bill cite the cost of installing CCTV at all nurseries ― estimated at about 60 billion won ($54.5 million) ― and doubts of its efficacy in preventing child abuse.

Nationwide concern about child abuse by day care staff erupted in January after a 33-year-old female worker at an Incheon day care center was caught on CCTV beating a 4-year-old for not finishing her meal.

Similar cases followed, including one in which three female workers hit children under 5 for not finishing meals or following the class. One of them was found to have put wet tissues in the mouth of a 22-month-old, according to police.

On Tuesday, the bill was voted down in the plenary session of the Assembly as the yes vote of 83 failed to reach the majority of 86 among the 171 attendees. The number of dissenting votes and black ballots came to 42 and 46.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)