'Up to 150 Million KRW'... First Public Disclosure of Two Defaulters on Child Support Payments for Single-Parent Families

On June 9th, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced improvements to the government's support measures for child support payments for single-parent families raising minors.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] The government has disclosed the list of 'child support debtors' who have failed to pay child support after divorce.

On the 19th at noon, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) published the names of two child support debtors on its website. This is the first case of list disclosure since the revised "Act on the Assurance and Support of Child Support Enforcement" (Child Support Enforcement Act) came into effect on July 13.

MOGEF revealed six pieces of personal information about the child support debtors: name, date of birth, occupation, workplace, period of non-payment, and amount of debt. The two individuals whose information was disclosed this time were found to have unpaid debts of 65.2 million KRW and 125.6 million KRW, respectively. However, other information, including facial photos, was not disclosed in accordance with the law.

Despite receiving detention orders from the court after the revised Child Support Enforcement Act was enforced, they did not pay the child support. Accordingly, MOGEF held the 22nd Child Support Enforcement Deliberation Committee on the 14th and decided to disclose their names. The committee granted a three-month period for statement of opinions, but they did not submit any opinions.

Currently, the committee is conducting deliberations on nine individuals who have applied for list disclosure, notifying them of the advance notice of disclosure and granting a period for statement of opinions. However, MOGEF also stated that it is considering shortening this period in response to criticism that the period given to debtors for submitting opinions is too long.

Furthermore, according to the committee's decision, on the 16th, MOGEF requested the Ministry of Justice to impose exit bans on seven child support debtors and requested the police stations with jurisdiction over the debtors' addresses to suspend the driver's licenses of ten debtors. These individuals are reported to have failed to pay child support ranging from a minimum of 21.54 million KRW to a maximum of 153.6 million KRW.

Currently, MOGEF is also pursuing a plan to lower the debt amount criteria for exit ban requests, considering that the current minimum debt amount of 50 million KRW is too high. Kim Kyung-sun, Vice Minister of MOGEF, explained, "To enhance the effectiveness of the system, we will shorten the period for statement of opinions during list disclosure and ease the requirements for exit ban requests, and do our best to create a safe child-rearing environment for minor children."

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