On January 14, there was a lawsuit that caused much controversy on the Internet. The case was regarding a Naver café, “Bad Fathers,” where people whistle-blow about parents who do not pay for the upkeep of their own children. With regard to this, limitations on the current laws related to child rearing expenses were pointed out. Considering various unsolved cases of child support expenses, there seems to be the need for some practical revisions on this matter.

The lawsuit was against the administrator of “bad fathers,” Ku Bonchang, for defamation of character in café postings. However, since libel is not acknowledged when the act is carried out for public interest, the jury reached a verdict of not guilty with regard to posting photographs of bad mothers or fathers. This verdict has significance in that up until now, unpaid upkeep costs were reg arded as personal affairs rather than public affairs.

Hardships in Getting Child Rearing Expenses

In response to this verdict, some point out the harshness of publicly posting
individual photographs online instead of taking legal action directly. “Bad fathers” posts various individual information including photographs, ages, or addresses, and some point out that the café is a place of defamation of character, leaning too much on people’s emotions.

However, the situation is not as easy as it seems on the surface, and a lot of parents are actually suffering from the complicated process of gaining rights to protect their own children. Under Article 837 of the civil law, when two people get divorced, they are required to decide on the matter of bringing up their kids, and the agreement needs to be confirmed by the family court.

The problem is that, because there is no enforcement of the agreement, promises are often broken. In such cases, a lawsuit or a civil execution becomes the only remaining method. However, Professor Jun Gyung-gun (School of Law, Ajou University) mentioned, “In case of lawsuits or civil executions, it costs a lot of money and effort, which makes it much harder for single-parents to carry out these legal processes.

Legal Protection? Or Vain Loopholes?

In respect to this, there are two major legal systems put in place to help people keep their agreements. The first one is the order of payment, in which the person related could end up in jail through legal force. In particular, the court does not grant an authorization for a detention order if one’s registered address does not align with the actual. This results in cases where some people take advantage of this and choose not to register their proper address. Moreover, such procedures are incapable of following through if people fail to receive a consent form of personal information disclosure.

Another system is the order of direct performance. This law targets people who
earn more than a certain amount of money but do not pay child rearing expenses without any justifiable reason. Under the premise, some people avoid their duty and this law by hiding their incomes, or even by temporarily quitting work. Professor Jun explained, “Measures to ensure the continuous upkeep support regardless of job changes, and methods to force payment of certain amounts of money to people who earn less than the minimum cost of living, are needed.”

Actually, these voices for change have long been raised and the bill on the compulsory implementation of the related matters is still pending in the National Assembly. Some might agree with a more forceful administrative action, while others might not. One thing for sure is that the current law is providing various loopholes and there needs to be some visible form of change.

Personal Affairs? Or Crimes?

Due to the limitations of the current system, a public petition that calls for tougher measures against unpaid child support expenses has been made. For example, countries such as the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) disclose the personal information of people who do not pay the upkeep for their own children. Moreover, the government revokes their licenses and even imprisons them. These types of harsh measures force people to take full responsibility for their own children and inculcate a notion that bearing child rearing expenses is a natural responsibility. Some people claim that Korea should also be taking drastic measures.

This is actually not the first time a cry for law enforcement has been made. Last year, a revision to the Act on the Enforcement of Parental Controls regarding the disclosure of personal information was proposed. However, it was rejected based on the “principle of preventing unfair connection,” which states that it is unfair to connect one’s fault in rearing kids to other personal areas like driver’s licenses. Nonetheless, it is still common to consider the duty for child rearing expenses as a civil duty rather than a stronger obligation which can even lead to criminal punishments. Thus, it seems that the implementation of criminal punishments on the matter of child rearing expenses might go through a lot of hardships.

In addition to all legal actions, the most essential aspect is, without doubt, the improvement in awareness towards supporting children. It is important to always keep in mind that child support costs are directly related to the survival of children. This notion grants a huge significance to the all-around support of everyone including the government, lawmakers, and the public. Other than the protection of children, some experts also mention the cost burden of the country. Professor Jun claimed that the improvement in the non-payment problems would eventually help the country’s finance, since it is the government’s duty to take care of children out of parental support.

The current law does not properly ensure the upkeep of children. Children, the real blessings and positive potentials, should now be saved from being sacrifices of adults’ selfishness. Further, the notion that child rearing expenses are the involved people’s own business, should be changed. Only with the help and concern of every individual for legal supports can the children of our society be protected. Amending the loopholes of the law would be the key point for the blooming of the young possibilities