Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo has declined to use the term “sexual violence” in reference to a recent incident involving male and female toddlers at a childcare center in Seongnam.
Meeting with reporters on Thursday, Park stressed that it's inappropriate to describe an incident involving children under the age of six as sexual violence.
He said the term applies to adult-involved incidents and the use of it deprives the related authorities of will to protect the children involved.
Arguing the two children in the case are neither a perpetrator nor a victim, the minister said his ministry is prioritizing protection of the children and drafting measures to minimize any psychological trauma they may face.
Park offered "sexual deviation" as the broadest term to describe the incident and said it was a reminder that the government significantly lacks measures to protect children from such acts.
He said the ministry is also working on a manual on how parents or institutional caretakers can cope with such behavior in young kids.
The incident drew national attention after the parents of a female student at the childcare center posted a petition on the presidential office’s Web site late last month, accusing a male classmate of committing sexual violence against their daughter.