Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the current status, and public policy issues related to child counselors, with a special focus on training programs and integrating such training into the national qualification system in Korea. The number of children manifesting various social and emotional developmental problems have increased recently. Thus, there is a clear and growing need for suitably qualified specialists to help them and their parents. Child counselors (CCs) are qualified specialists in child counseling and therapy. However, there are no national qualifications or training systems for CCs in Korea. Therefore, in this study, we proposed a Korean national qualification and training system of CCs by comparing the Korean Youth counselor's qualification, training and in-service training system, and with those of both Germany and the USA. In addition, this study suggested the inclusion of a practicum component and a suitable in-service training system for Korean CCs.