South Korea ranked near bottom among advanced nations in the rate of children using state-run kindergartens and other pre school institutions.
 
According to the minor opposition Justice Party's analysis of a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 21-point-one percent of South Korean children, between the ages of three and five, attended state-run preschool institutions in 2016.
 
The nation ranked 32nd among 35 OECD nations, whose average rate marked 66-point-nine percent – the average for Group 20 nations stood at 58 percent.
 
Amid a growing public uproar over irregularities among private kindergartens, the government and the ruling Democratic Party are pushing for a set of measures, such as boosting the ratio of state-run kindergartens to 40 percent at an early date.