SEOUL-- President Yoon Suk-yeol met with multicultural and single parent families Tuesday and pledged to increase the government's support for their education and welfare.

Yoon held the meeting at the Gurogu Family Center in western Seoul, which has provided counseling, educational and child care services for multicultural families since its establishment in 2006, according to the presidential office. Around 40,000 people use the center annually.

Yoon watched as mothers and young children read fairy tales and middle school students from China and Vietnam learned Korean.

"These children are truly precious assets that will lead the future of all the people of the world," he said afterward.

"It doesn't matter what their nationality is, and it's not important whether they obtained South Korean citizenship or live here but have a foreign nationality, as they are all precious assets of South Korea and the world," he added. "I am well aware that as our children grow, the state should bear a large responsibility and work to help parents in areas where they can't completely fulfill their roles."

Yoon said he came to the center to hear from families about where the state has been doing well and where it can improve and provide more support.

"We will listen to your voices carefully and come up with good systems so that the people will not experience difficulties," he said.

The presidential office said in a press release that Yoon stressed his commitment to providing generous support to vulnerable families and strengthening universal family services to ensure healthy growth for children regardless of their parents' financial situation or their domestic environment.

In particular, he pledged to expand child support for low-income single parent families and teenage parents and to increase tailored support for children of multicultural families who are struggling to learn the Korean language or adjust to their studies.

Source: Yonhap News Agency