"All the Insurance Money Is Mine" Biological Mother Appears After 50 Years Following Death of Son Abandoned at Age 2

Court: "Pay part of the death insurance money to the biological older sister"
Biological mother submits objection and rejects court mediation proposal

An 80-year-old biological mother who had been out of contact for over 50 years appeared to claim insurance money after her son's death but even refused the court's mediation proposal to share the deceased's death insurance money.

On the 18th, the 2-1 division of the Busan High Court announced that it recently issued a reconciliation recommendation decision ordering the biological mother, Ms. A, to pay 100 million won, a portion of the death insurance money of her son Kim Jong-an, to the deceased's biological older sister, Kim Jong-seon.

On the morning of the 9th, at the National Assembly Communication Office in Yeouido, Seoul, Kim Jong-an's elder sister, Kim Jong-seon, who went missing while on a fishing boat, is speaking at the press conference urging the passage of the "Koo Hara Act and the Seonwon Koo Hara Act."
[Photo by Yonhap News]

This amount corresponds to about 40% of the approximately 230 million won death insurance money of Mr. Kim, which was deposited by the Fisheries Cooperative to the court. Although the court's decision was a recommendation to conclude the lawsuit, Ms. A's side submitted an objection and rejected the court's mediation proposal.

Kim Jong-seon said, "My biological mother did not show her face even once during the lawsuit over my brother's death insurance money, despite having no contact for over 50 years," adding, "I do not understand on what grounds she rejects the court's reconciliation recommendation, which we have conceded and accommodated a hundred times."

Kim Jong-an went missing in January 2021 after encountering a storm while on a fishing boat off the coast of Geoje. After the accident, compensation of about 300 million won was paid, including approximately 230 million won in death insurance money in the deceased's name and 50 million won in settlement money from the shipping company.

Upon hearing this news, Ms. A appeared and claimed the compensation money by citing the inheritance provisions of the Civil Act, starting a legal dispute.

Disappeared 54 years ago at age 2, no contact since

It is known that Ms. A has had no contact since disappearing 54 years ago when the deceased was 2 years old.

At a press conference held at the National Assembly Communication Office last June, Kim Jong-seon stated, "My biological mother left when my brother was about 2 years old and never came to see the three of us siblings, nor did she ever cook a warm meal for us. We never even called her 'mom.'"

He continued, "When my biological older brother died in a traffic accident in 1999 at the age of 41, the police contacted her, but she did not come. If she truly considered him her child, she would not have acted that way," adding, "Now that the youngest sibling has died, she suddenly appears, eyeing a large fortune. She has claimed ownership of the 100 million won cash in my brother's bank account and the house where he lived."

Kim also said, "The legal heirs of the deceased brother are actually his common-law spouse, our aunt who raised the three of us, and our biological grandmother. We three siblings, abandoned by our biological mother, lived in hardship with empty stomachs, but our grandmother and aunt cared for us with love," adding, "If my brother had not had the accident, my biological mother would never have come to see us until his death. And if he only had debts, would she have come? This biological mother is neither a mother nor a human being."

Kim Jong-seon is urging the prompt passage of the so-called 'Gu Ha-ra Act' in the National Assembly, which prohibits inheritance of property by parents who fail to fulfill their child-rearing obligations. In 2021, Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the Democratic Party of Korea proposed related legislation, and the Ministry of Justice also submitted a similar bill to the National Assembly in June last year. However, it remains pending without discussion due to political conflicts between ruling and opposition parties.

The legislative amendment is called the "Goo Hara Act" after Goo Hoin, the older brother of the late singer Goo Hara, who petitioned for the legislation to prevent their biological mother, who abandoned young Goo and ran away from home, from claiming half of the inheritance after Goo's death.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The amendment to the Civil Act is called the 'Gu Ha-ra Act' after the late singer Gu Ha-ra, whose older brother Gu Ho-in petitioned legislation to prevent their biological mother, who abandoned young Gu and ran away, from receiving half of the inheritance after Gu's death.

The court is scheduled to issue a formal ruling on the 31st.

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