Government vows to control unauthorized youth camps

By Oh Kyu-wook

The government and ruling party on Tuesday vowed to stop youth summer camps with any safety or security concerns.

“We‘ll check all outdoor camps and force to stop them running unless safety of students is assured,” Education Minister Seo Nam-soo said at a government-ruling party meeting.

His remarks came less than a week after five teenagers drowned at a private seaside summer camp at Taean Beach, South Chungcheong Province.

“The incident accrued during the outdoor school activity, and I feel a great responsibility for that as the one in charge of school education,” Seo said, noting that he would make sure education offices checked and monitored schools’ outdoor activity plans.

Rep. Lee Hye-hoon of the Saenuri Party said the number of youth camps was growing rapidly but the government was failing to impose necessary regulations.

The party chairman Hwang Woo-yeo pointed out that many youth camps were run by unauthorized private firms.

“Outdoor school activities have become a part of student assessment and now there are so many unregulated camps luring students,” Hwang said, urging the government to enhance oversight of outdoor school activities.

President Park Geun-hye also said Monday that she would direct the government to enhance safety following the deaths of the teenagers from a high school affiliated with Gongju National University.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry, which fired the principal of the high school, is now conducting a special audit into the high school.(596story@heraldcorp.com)