Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, center, responds to citizen proposals and suggestions on city policies during a public discussion at Seoul City Hall, Tuesday. Yonhap

The Seoul Metropolitan Government held a public discussion with citizens on Tuesday, aiming to gather their opinions on how the city should overhaul its regulations.

While the discussion did not result in immediate regulatory reforms or specific policy improvements, the city government said it would prioritize citizens' suggestions for review.

With regulatory reforms set as a top priority for the new year, the city government hosted a session that gathered over 100 participants to discuss the challenges created by existing policies. The topics included childcare support for foreign children and work-family balance, with citizens expressing concerns about how regulations affect their daily lives.

"If regulations hinder economic vitality, we will reassess them from the ground up, and if citizens experience discomfort, we will revise them to build a new Seoul," Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said.

Ahead of the discussion, the city government collected regulatory reform ideas through a citizen suggestion platform from Jan. 3 to 8. A total of 111 proposals for deregulation and 86 new policy ideas were submitted. The most common complaints, with 67 submissions, were related to daily life regulations.

Christina, a mother raising a child in Seoul, advocated for expanded childcare support for children of foreign nationals.

"While Korean children receive full childcare fee support from infant to age 5, foreign children only receive assistance from ages 3 to 5," she said.

This gap has raised concerns among foreign parents, who are unable to access the same benefits as their Korean counterparts, despite having similar family circumstances.

Christina stressed the vital role of early childhood education, particularly in daycare settings, in nurturing language skills and social development, which she believes are essential for children's long-term growth and success.

"Foreign children often face language barriers and cultural differences, which can lead to social challenges and, in some cases, hinder academic progress," she added.

In response to the issue, the city government announced that it has secured a budget to support childcare fees for foreign children, from infants to 2 years old, attending nurseries. This decision follows similar feedback from various communities.

"Discussions are ongoing, and the support is expected to be retroactively implemented starting in January once the process is finalized," an official from the city government said.

One citizen raised concerns about the challenges faced by families with children who have developmental disabilities.

"While there are policies supporting work-family balance, families with disabled children are left out because existing systems don't apply to them," she said.

She pointed out that many family support programs, such as parental leave, are restricted by age limits.

"Parental leave is only available for children up to 8 years old, even though children with disabilities often require care well into adulthood,” she said.

The citizen argued that support policies should be expanded to include these families, citing examples from countries like the U.K., Sweden and Germany, which provide distinct support for disabled and nondisabled children in their family systems.

Oh expressed understanding of the concerns and voiced support for expanding parental leave benefits to include families caring for children with disabilities.

However, he acknowledged that implementing such changes would require revisions to existing laws, particularly the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act.

"We will advocate for legal reforms through the relevant ministries to make these changes," he said, highlighting the challenges of enacting institutional adjustments without legal amendments.

Not many immediate promises were made to abolish regulations or provide specific policy improvements during the discussion, with many responses indicating limitations to the suggestions raised by citizens.

However, the city government said it would prioritize citizen proposals raised in the discussion for consideration in its agenda. If necessary, the proposals will be brought up at a regulatory reform meeting chaired by the mayor, and any unnecessary regulations will be boldly eliminated.