Jeju Island wants to ban ‘child-free’ businesses. South Koreans have mixed feelings
- Jeju Island is pushing to enact a bill that prevents owners of establishments from designating their businesses as child-free zones
- Supporters place importance on the rights of people to not be disturbed, while objectors claim the zones infringe on the human rights of children
The resort island will become the first jurisdiction in the country to have such an ordinance, if a bill to enact it is passed at the plenary session of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council scheduled for May 19.
The ordinance, if passed, would be applied on the island only. But the move is grabbing the country’s attention, as there have been strong arguments for and against the need for businesses to designate child-free zones in recent years, with noisy, disruptive children becoming the bane of many restaurants and cafes.
Supporters for such zones place importance on the rights of people to not be disturbed, while objectors claim the zones infringe on the human rights of children.
Jeju Island has many tourist spots visited by families, but also has many child-free zones compared to other cities or provinces across the country
Song Chang-kwon, a provincial council member from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea who submitted the bill, sided with the objectors, saying the zones discriminate against children.