Proposal to Shorten the Application Period for Non-Payment of Child Support Detention to 30 Days

Enforcement Rate of Child Support Non-Compliance Detention Orders Remains Around 10%
From July, Travel Bans, Public Disclosure, and Criminal Penalties Also Possible

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] A plan is being promoted to shorten the application period for detention orders to 30 days in cases where child support payments are not made.

On the 28th, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family held the 18th Child Support Enforcement Deliberation Committee on the 26th at the Korea Healthy Family Promotion Agency in Seocho-gu, Seoul, with related government agencies and private committee members including the Ministry of Justice, National Tax Service, and Court Administration.

The committee discussed shortening the period during which a detention order can be applied for in cases of non-payment of child support from the current 90 days to 30 days. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family stated that the purpose is to unify the unpaid period (30 days) during which a detention order can be applied for when a payment order is violated.

A detention order is a measure where the court can detain a debtor who willfully fails to fulfill their obligation, and the debtor is held in custody within a 30-day range until the obligation is fulfilled.

According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the execution rate of detention orders was about 10% as of last year. In 2020, there were 250 cases where detention orders were accepted, but only 25 cases were actually executed.

To enhance the effectiveness of the detention system for non-payment of child support, the committee also discussed changing the burden of proof for justifiable reasons for non-payment from the child support creditor to the debtor.

Additionally, measures to increase the recovery rate of the "Temporary Child Support Assistance" program, which provides emergency support for parents and children in crisis due to non-receipt of child support, were also discussed.

According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, a total of 876 million KRW has been supported from 2015 to last year, but the actual amount recovered was only about 2.3%, or 20 million KRW.

The government has enabled the suspension of driver's licenses to increase child support enforcement rates. From July 13 of this year, travel bans, disclosure of personal information, and criminal penalties will also be possible.

The criteria for criminal penalties are cases where payment is not made within one year after a detention order, and suspension of licenses or travel bans are decided through committee resolution when child support payments are not fulfilled after a detention order.

The government has allowed inquiries into the national and local tax payment records and land/building ownership status of child support debtors, as well as access to credit information and insurance payment information.

From June, credit information and insurance details will be added to the information inquiry targets for child support debtors, and based on this information, notices will be sent to debtors and forced collection can be carried out according to national tax delinquency measures.

The committee discussed plans to revamp the child support enforcement service management system and simplify child support-related litigation.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family also disclosed the enforcement performance of the Child Support Enforcement Agency established in 2015. The amount of child support enforcement was 8.6 billion KRW in 2016 but increased to 17.3 billion KRW in 2020.

The number of child support enforcement cases increased from 514 in 2015 to 1,993 in 2019 but sharply dropped to 965 last year due to the impact of COVID-19.

The cumulative child support enforcement rate increased as follows: 29.6% in 2016, 32.0% in 2017, 32.3% in 2018, 35.6% in 2019, and 36.1% in 2020.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family stated that it is estimated that due to economic difficulties such as unemployment or business closure caused by COVID-19 last year, debtors' income decreased, resulting in non-payment of child support.

The number of people participating in visitation support between minor children and non-custodial parents increased from 190 in 2016 to 1,866 last year.

Kim Kyung-sun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, said, "Securing child support enforcement is the minimum measure to guarantee children's right to survival and healthy growth," adding, "We will continue to improve the system to shorten the long litigation period that burdens custodial parents, simplify procedures, and strive to increase the enforcement rate of child support by non-custodial fathers and mothers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.