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Busan’s Childcare Policies Explained from a Parent’s Perspective: Full-Scale Launch of the “Cherished Like You” Parent Supporters Group

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it has formed the first cohort of the “Cherished Like You” Parent Supporters Group (hereinafter, the Supporters Group) to strengthen demand-oriented communication on childcare policies, and that the group will begin full-scale promotional activities starting this month.

The city operates the Supporters Group to convey major childbirth and childcare policies related to Busan’s childrearing policy brand “Cherished Like You” (당신처럼 애지중지) in a clear and accessible way from the perspective of citizens.

The 20 members selected through an open recruitment process in January will participate in activities for two months, introducing Busan’s childcare policies through various online channels such as social networking services (SNS) and local communities.

The city selected 20 parents who are active on personal SNS platforms and highly engaged in childcare-related communication within their local communities from among the applicants.

The Supporters Group plans to focus its promotion on content with high perceived policy impact, including hands-on experiences using childcare support facilities such as public kids cafés, major city parenting support initiatives, and parent-child participation programs.

Throughout the year, five cohorts of 20 parents each—100 parents of infants and young children in total—will take part in the Supporters Group activities in a relay format.

The overall operating period runs from February to November, with each cohort active for two months. Participants who meet the activity requirements will receive individual benefits (incentives).

Busan Metropolitan City will provide customized promotional content tailored to each cohort’s schedule and will continuously review and monitor activities to identify and expand best practices.

Detailed information, including recruitment schedules by cohort and application methods, can be found in the notices section of the Busan Childcare Support Center website at busan.childcare.go.kr. Additional inquiries can be made by phone at 051-866-0536.

Meanwhile, starting this year (2026), Busan Metropolitan City is expanding the implementation of various childcare policies aimed at substantially reducing parents’ childcare burdens.

These include the introduction of free childcare for children aged three to five attending daycare centers, with monthly support of 137,000 won for necessary expenses; new childcare fee support for children of foreign nationality; expansion of the community childcare initiative designed to promote shared parenting and move away from sole caregiving, as well as expansion of district-level fathers’ groups into the “1,000 Fathers Group”; and the opening of “Cherished Like You” public kids cafés in civic parks, all as part of efforts to create a city where raising children is truly supported.

Park Seol-yeon, Director General of the Women and Family Bureau, stated, “Stories shared directly by parents, who are the beneficiaries of these policies, are the most relatable and effective form of promotion for citizens,” adding, “Through customized promotion, we hope to expand public empathy for these policies, and we will continue to actively promote ‘Cherished Like You’ childcare policies that parents can truly feel and experience.”