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Students greet their classmates in a third-grade classroom at Yeongdeok Elementary School in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on August 20, the first day of school following the end of summer break. / Yonhap

As the second semester begins, the government will conduct a month-long inspection focused on safety hazards around elementary schools nationwide.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 23rd that it will inspect the areas around about 6,300 elementary schools from the 24th through September 23, together with 725 institutions including central government agencies such as the Ministry of Education and the National Police Agency, local governments, and civic organizations.

The inspection covers five areas directly tied to children's safety: traffic safety, food safety, harmful environments, product safety, and illegal advertising materials. In the traffic safety category, authorities will crack down heavily on illegal parking, speeding, and signal violations within school zones, and check for illegal materials stacked near construction sites along school commuting routes. In the food safety category, officials will check the condition of school meal facilities that went unused during the break and verify compliance with food ingredient expiration dates.

In the harmful environments category, authorities will work with the civic group Youth Harmful Environment Watch to crack down on harmful businesses near schools and check the operating status of e-cigarette vending machines within education environment protection zones. In the product safety category, officials will check whether uncertified children's products are being sold at stationery stores, convenience stores, and similar outlets, and plan to conduct follow-up inspections of any store found selling illegal products in October and November. In the illegal advertising materials category, authorities will repair aging signage near school commuting routes and take strict action on violations under outdoor advertising guidelines established last year.

The government has conducted this kind of inspection every year at the start of the school term. Last year, authorities cracked down on and corrected a total of about 670,000 cases, including roughly 450,000 illegal advertising materials, 190,000 traffic safety hazards, 17,000 cases involving harmful environments for youth, and 16,000 cases of inadequate food and hygiene management.

Anyone can report harmful materials targeting youth, substandard food, or uncertified unsafe products through the Safety Report app or website, and responsible agencies must inform the public of the outcome or plan of action within seven days of receiving a report. Starting this year, regional public awareness campaigns aimed at preventing child abduction and enticement will also be carried out alongside the inspection, actively promoting protective measures such as advance registration systems to help prevent missing children cases.

Kim Kwang-yong, head of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters, said, "The government will carefully identify safety hazards around schools in advance and swiftly address them, so children can start the new semester with peace of mind," adding, "We also ask families and communities to maintain ongoing attention to children's safety."

Shim Min-cheol, director general of the Ministry of Education's Student Health and Safety Policy Bureau, said, "With the start of the second semester, students' school life is beginning in earnest and outdoor activities are also expected to increase heading into fall, so we will do our utmost to create a safe educational environment and strengthen field-focused inspections together with relevant agencies."

                                                                                                            Park Ji-sook