The South Korean government will introduce heftier punishments against irregularities at private preschools and step up monitoring of their accounting transparency.<br />The ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the education ministry announced the new measures Thursday,... in light of recent revelations that some 19-hundred kindergartens nationwide were involved in series of irregularities,... from accounting fraud to using taxpayer money to buy personal goods.<br />Private preschools will be required to adopt a state accounting system currently used at schools,... known as edufine.<br />On top of initial plans to add some 500 new public kindergartens next year,... the government will double that to 1,000 as part of its aim of achieving a ratio of 40 percent state-run kindergartens.<br />The government also plans to warn private preschools of stronger punishment if they take actions such as a collective strike or refuse to take new students, as it's a violation of fair trade law. <br />
