Will Common-Law and Cohabitation Be Recognized as Family? Interest Grows Over the Proposal of the 'Life Partner Act'

Granting Rights Equivalent to Marriage Such as Agency and Adoption
Bill Failed in 2014... This Is the First Case in Korea

The first-ever bill in Korea recognizing ‘minorities outside the family order’ who are not connected by marriage or blood ties as family has been proposed. With May being the ‘Month of Family,’ attention is focused on whether the bill will pass through the National Assembly.

According to women’s organizations on the 6th, recently Yong Hye-in, a lawmaker from the Basic Income Party, proposed the Act on Life Partnership (Life Partnership Act), which recognizes de facto marriages and cohabitation relationships as family.

This bill regards two people who mutually agree to share daily life and household chores and care for each other as life partners, granting them rights and obligations equivalent to marriage, such as authority over daily household affairs, adoption of a child as a legal child and joint adoption, and inheritance rights.

There have been previous attempts to create similar bills. Jin Sun-mi, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, also prepared a similar bill in 2014 before serving as Minister of Gender Equality and Family, but it was not even proposed at that time.

In particular, there was fierce opposition from conservative Christian groups who claimed it was a “law recognizing the union of homosexuals.” Therefore, the Life Partnership Act proposed by Representative Yong is the first of its kind to be introduced in the National Assembly.

There have been ongoing calls to grant rights to minorities excluded by outdated customs tied to marriage and blood relations, and to revise the definition of family relationships under the Framework Act on Healthy Families.

On the afternoon of the 1st, citizens visiting the amusement park at Children's Grand Park in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Framework Act on Healthy Families has been criticized since its enactment in 2004 for defining family too narrowly as units formed by marriage, blood ties, or adoption. Additionally, the very name of the law, ‘Healthy Families,’ has been pointed out as discriminatory because it may imply that only such family forms are healthy.

Moreover, as non-marital communities, divorced single parents, and unmarried single parents have increased, public perception and lifestyles have changed. In a 2020 social survey by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, 69.7% responded that “regardless of marriage or blood relation, if people share livelihood and residence, they should be recognized as family.”

In response to these changes, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced plans during the previous administration in 2021 to recognize non-marital cohabiting couples and foster families due to child abuse as families under the Framework Act on Healthy Families.

However, under the current administration, the position has shifted to maintaining the status quo. The Ministry stated, “We will focus on practical support rather than engaging in futile debates over the legal definition of family.”

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