Daegum, Principle of Filing Formal Trial for Child Support Nonpayment Cases... Implementation of Case Handling Standards

Implemented Nationwide in Prosecutors' Offices Starting Today

The prosecution has decided, in principle, to file formal trials for cases violating the Child Support Enforcement Act by failing to pay child support on time.

On the 6th, the Criminal Division of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced that, starting today, it will implement nationwide case handling standards to generally conduct public trials for violations of the Child Support Enforcement Act due to non-fulfillment of child support obligations.

Seoul Seocho-dong Supreme Prosecutors' Office building. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

An official from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "Through the case handling standards implemented today, we have instructed local prosecutors' offices to generally conduct public trials for cases of unpaid child support, while considering factors such as the amount of unpaid child support, the duration of non-payment, and the degree of efforts made to comply."

He added, "Furthermore, in cases of intentional and malicious non-fulfillment of child support?such as never having paid child support, deliberately withholding payment despite sufficient assets, or hiding assets to avoid payment?we have directed that these be considered as aggravating factors in sentencing."

In response to the social consensus that securing child support is essential for the stable growth of minor children, the "Act on the Enforcement and Support of Child Support" (Child Support Enforcement Act) was enacted in March 2014 and has been in effect since March of the following year.

Additionally, to enhance the effectiveness of enforcement against the increasing non-payment of child support, criminal penalties were introduced in January 2021 and have been enforced since July of the same year.

Article 27 (Penalties), Paragraph 2, Subparagraph 2 of the Child Support Enforcement Act stipulates that "a person who, despite receiving a detention order under Article 68, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 1 or 3 of the Family Litigation Act, fails to fulfill child support obligations within one year from the date of the detention order without justifiable reasons shall be punished by imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million won. However, prosecution cannot proceed if the victim does not wish to press charges, as this is a quasi-offense."

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office explained that criminal punishment for non-payment of child support requires that ▲ a person ordered by the family court to make regular child support payments fails to pay three or more times, or a person ordered to make a lump-sum payment fails to pay within 30 days, ▲ and that the person has received a detention order from the family court due to this, ▲ and that the person fails to pay child support within one year from the date of the detention order without justifiable reasons.

Meanwhile, the prosecution reported that from January to September of this year, 14 individuals who failed to pay child support were brought to trial.

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