[Interview] Former and Current Child Support Enforcement Directors "Institutional Independence Needed to Protect Children's Basic Rights"

"Outsourced Litigation Due to Staff Shortage
It Is Preferable for Affiliated Personnel to Manage Cases Professionally"

"The Child Support Enforcement Agency must become an institution that can protect the basic rights of children. To achieve this, the independence of the agency is necessary."

(From left) Jeon Ju-won, Director of the Child Support Enforcement Agency, and Attorney Lee Sun-hee, the first director.
[Photo by Legal News]

This is the statement of Lee Seon-hee (74, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 10), a lawyer affiliated with the Notary Public Peace Joint Office and the first director of the Child Support Enforcement Agency.

The amendment bill to the Act on Securing and Supporting Child Support Enforcement, which includes provisions such as the child support advance payment system and income and asset investigation of child support debtors, is scheduled for discussion at a related subcommittee of the National Assembly. Some of the amendments contain provisions to establish the Child Support Enforcement Agency as an independent institution.

The Child Support Enforcement Agency, which provides legal aid and litigation support for child support payments in single-parent families, is currently an organization under the Korea Healthy Family Promotion Agency. Former and current directors of the Child Support Enforcement Agency raise their voices, saying that institutional independence is necessary to enhance expertise and properly fulfill the role of a legal aid institution.

[Photo by Beopryul Newspaper]

Jeon Ju-won (class 38, pictured above), director of the Child Support Enforcement Agency, emphasized, "Independence is necessary to enhance expertise as a legal aid institution." He added, "The child support enforcement rate is much higher when a lawyer belonging to the Child Support Enforcement Agency directly handles the case. However, due to manpower shortages, we have no choice but to proceed with outsourced litigation." He further argued, "The most desirable situation is for personnel belonging to the Child Support Enforcement Agency to professionally and consistently manage a single case."

The Child Support Enforcement Agency supports litigation for those who do not receive child support payments on time after divorce. It handles main lawsuits to secure child support claims, as well as seizure and collection of child support claims, and monitoring of child support enforcement.

As the divorce rate rises, improvements to the child support system have been made. However, the manpower situation at the Child Support Enforcement Agency is not favorable. Director Jeon said, "As of last year, one lawyer at the Child Support Enforcement Agency handled an average of about 200 child support-related cases per year. Since delayed child support payments often involve severe conflict situations, it is necessary to carefully conduct mediation and arbitration depending on the case. To properly handle this, institutional independence and manpower expansion are urgent."

They also unanimously agreed that legislative discussion on the 'child support advance payment system' is urgent.

The child support advance payment system is a system where the government pays child support on behalf of the payer and then recovers the amount from the child support creditor. Similar systems have been introduced in countries such as Denmark, Finland, and France.

[Photo by Beopryul Sinmun]

Former director Lee (pictured above) explained, "In Europe and other overseas countries, the term 'advance payment system' is used rather than 'substitute payment system' for child support." He added, "This reflects the perception that the government should take the initiative in resolving child support issues." He emphasized, "Along with the system, awareness must also be improved. The perception that child-rearing is not an individual issue but a problem the state must jointly consider should be established in policy."

Currently, Korea provides temporary emergency child support through a system where the government supports parents facing economic difficulties due to non-payment of child support and then recovers the amount. However, the scope of support is narrow, and the maximum support amount is limited to 2.4 million won per person for up to one year, raising concerns about its effectiveness as a safety net for a stable child-rearing environment.

Director Jeon said, "Recently, both the recovery rate of child support through reimbursement lawsuits and through compulsory collection have rapidly increased. If professional personnel are expanded for child support recovery, the recovery rate will improve enough to implement the advance payment system."

He added, "Making the Child Support Enforcement Agency independent to recognize its expertise as a legal aid institution and improving the treatment of affiliated lawyers is ultimately linked to providing quality jobs for young lawyers. I hope the Korean Bar Association and lawmakers with legal backgrounds will also take an interest."

Reporter Lim Hyun-kyung, Legal Times

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.

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