“24-hour childcare center, a global first!”
(Published June 21, 2012)

Banwol Industrial Complex to open a public childcare center that operates 365 days a year

◇ Governor Kim Moon-soo and other officials pose for a commemorative photograph at the signing ceremony for the construction of the Ansan Smart Hub Public Childcare Center on June 21^st. ⓒ G-News Plus / Yu Je-hun

The nation’s first 24-hour public childcare center will open in Gyeonggi Province next February.

The 24-hour public childcare center, planned for the personnel of Gyeonggi Province’s Banwol Industrial Complex, will be open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. This revolutionary childcare facility will operate with only one goal: the care of children.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo, Ansan City Mayor Kim Chul-min, and Korea Industrial Complex Corp. Chairman Kim Gyeong-su gathered at the latter’s Gyeonggi branch office on June 21^st and agreed to cooperate in the construction of the Ansan Smart Hub Public Childcare Center for employees of the industrial complex.

Through this agreement, the Korea Industrial Complex Corp agrees to grant a free lease for a 900m² area located at No.773-18 in Wonsi-dong, Danwon-gu. Gyeonggi Province and Ansan City agree to contribute KRW 500 million and KRW 1 billion, respectively, to the construction fund and promise to provide administrative and financial support for the promotion of the project.

The construction of the public childcare center, a two-story building with a maximum capacity of 98, will begin in October. The province plans to open the center in March 2013 and is confident that the facility will contribute greatly to reducing the daycare burden placed on industrial complex employees while also providing a solution to the problem of the low birthrate.

Gyeonggi Province has set aside a budget of KRW 15 billion for city complex development and the improvement of public childcare facilities in vulnerable areas, and is pushing to expand the number of public childcare centers to fifteen. Of the fifteen childcare centers the province plans to open, Ansan Smart Hub, Icheon 2^nd Ami, and Osan Sema Station will operate on a 24-hour-a-day basis.

The Ansan Smart Hub at the Banwol Industrial Complex currently employs many female personnel, one of whom, expecting a child in December, attended the meeting and stated, “Once my child is one year old, I plan to send him to the childcare center. Right now, my mother-in-law takes of him, but it is quite difficult since she lives far away.” She added, “I hope that more childcare centers will be established that we can trust to provide grandmotherly care for our children.”

In his greeting address, Governor Kim Moon-soo stated, “There is only one childcare center in the world that you can trust to send your children to 365 days of the year, 24 hours a day. I will work hard to ensure that working women feel at ease and have many children, while remaining able to balance both work and family, thereby benefiting industry as well.” He also said, “Children are our future and a national resource. Having children isn’t easy, so we must raise them well. We will care for these children like they are our own, and the province will provide ample support for infant care and childbirth.

Back in July 2010, Gyeonggi Province opened the nation’s first 24-hour, 3-shift public childcare center for the workers at SK Hynix, Inc., establishing a nationwide model.

◇ Governor Kim Moon-soo on a tour of the public childcare center site. ⓒ G-News Plus / Yu Je-hun

ⓒ G-News Plus News / Im Se-jeen sejeenee@kg21.net

http://gnews.gg.go.kr/news/news_detail.asp?number=201206211514097055C048&s_code=C048