There Is No Waiting-Period for Remarriage under Korean Family Law

Recently we got a question regarding the s0-called “waiting-period” of remarriage under Korean family law.  There is no such a thing like “waiting-period” which prohibits a divorced person to remarry within certain period.  Actually there had been a clause of waiting period in Korean Civil Code, but the clause was abolished in 2005.  So if you’re divorced by the Korean family, then you can remarry at any time you want with no legal hindrances.

If you have more questions about divorce, marriage and any other Korean law related issues, please visit our legal consultation page.

© 2009 Wonil Chung, a Korean family lawyer. All rights reserved. Some copyrights, photos, icons, trademarks, trade dress, or other commercial symbols that appear on this post are the property of the respective owners.

Korea Banned Foreign Adoption?

Recently many foreigners asked me if it is true that Korean government banned adoptions by foreign adopters.  I think this rumor came out after the chief of Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs had said “it should be sough after revitalization of domestic adoption”.  The background of the chief’s comment was a recent homicide case where a U. S. adopters in Iowa killed 4 Korean adoptees.  The adoption agencies misunderstood it as Korean government would ban foreign adoption.  But constraining foreign adoptions and revitalizing domestic adoptions has been a long-time governmental policy ever since late 90’s-it is nothing new.

There has been no official changes on current regulations on foreign adoptions by Korean government.  Moreover, the private adoption, not an institutional adoption, is regulated by the Civil Act and it has nothing to do with adoption agencies and Ministry of Health.  The Act requires only a “report” not an approval from the government to make private adoption effective in Korea.  Surely the Act does not discriminate foreigners form Koreans in becoming adoptive parents.

© 2008 Wonil Chung, a Korean Adoption Lawyer/Chung & Partners, a Korean Adoption Law Firm.  All rights reserved. Some copyrights, photos, icons, trademarks, trade dress, or other commercial symbols that appear on this post are the property of the respective owners.

Korean Family Court Granted Family Name Changing into Foreign Step-Father’s Family Name

According to Korean Civil Act, a child shall succeed his or her mother’s family name, if the father is a foreigner.  By the way, the newly amended Korean Civil Act which has become effective from January 1, 2008, allows changing family name into another one, Article 781 (6) of which provides as follows:

Where there exists a need to alter the family name of a child for the welfare of the child, it may be changed with the approval thereof which the court grants upon a request of the father or mother or the child itself: Provided, That if the child is a minor and its agent by law may not make such a request, the request may be made by the relative provided for in article 777 or a public prosecutor.

Since the enforcement of the new Civil Act, I’m curious about whether Koren Court would permit the changing Korean family names into foreign family names such as “Smith” or “Brown” and so on.  This becomes a substantial issue considering many Korean kids are being adopted to foreign parents and many Korean females are being remarried to foreign males with her Korean child.

Finally Seoul Family Court answered this question.  The court announced today that it had granted a Korean mother’s request to change her daughter’s family name to her newly wedded Filipino husband (from that of Korean biological father).  It is reported that the court took great pains to draw this decision.  However, the court can not disregard the reality where multicultural family has increased due to international marriage in Korea and Surely the judge reflected this trend onto its decision.

Anyway, I think other Korean child placed in a similar situation will be able to get benefits from the above case too.

© 2008 Wonil Chung, a Korean Family Lawyer/Chung & Partners, a Korean Family Law Firm.  All rights reserved. Some copyrights, photos, icons, trademarks, trade dress, or other commercial symbols that appear on this post are the property of the respective owners.

Korean President Urges More Protection on Foreign Wives Married to Korean

It is reported that President Lee Myung-bak said the central government should work out programs to better protect the human rights of foreign wives married to Korean men.  It has been a severe social issues that more and more women from countries especially Philippines and Vietnam are getting married to Korean men and increasing incidents of abuse of foreign wives has been reported.  You can read the news here.

© 2008 Wonil Chung, a Korean Family Attorney/Chung & Partners, a Korean Family Law Firm.  All rights reserved. Some copyrights, photos, icons, trademarks, trade dress, or other commercial symbols that appear on this post are the property of the respective owners.

Claim for Division of Property under Korean Divorce Law

Korean divorce law allows a claim for division of property to any party of divorcing couple.  It means even the spouse responsible for the breaking of the marriage even has the right too.

Division of property shall be determined by the parties’ agreement first.  If no agreement is made or if it is impossible to reach an agreement, the Family court shall, upon request of the parties, determine the amount and method of division.

One thing which should be noted is that the object of the division is only “property acquired by cooperation of both parties”.  That mens, if the property in issue is acquired by only either party’s effort and funds, then it shall not be

Do I Have to Get Divorced to Become a Sole Child Custodian under Korean Law?

Recently I got a question from a U.S. citizen living in the states. He has a Korean wife and a son. He’s currently living separately from the wife and son in Korea. The wife refuses his contact with the kid. He tries to get the custody but is not sure about filing a divorce law suit right away.

Child custody has two meanings in Korea.  One is a right to make decisions for the child (so-called parental authority) and the other is right to foster the child.

Getting divorced is not necessarily required to have the “right to foster” under Korean law. He can request the Korean Family Court to designate him as a sole child fosterer, maintaining his marriage.  The court will consider certain factors such as child’s age, past and current life style, occupation and standard of living of both parties and so on in deciding who is going to be a right fosterer in terms of the child’s welfare.

Regarding the expense of bringing up a child, if he is designated as a sole fosterer, the wife shall pay the certain proportion of total expenses of bringing up a child.

In a case where he fails to be designated as a sole fosterer by the court, he shall be entitled to have a visitation right according to Korean law. He can request the court to prevent his wife from interrupting his regular visitation to his

Committing Adultery And Criminal Charge Under Korean Law

I wrote a post regarding divoirce issue when a husband did an act of unchastity.  By the way, what if he did commit an adultery?  It surely not only constitutes a legal ground for divorce on behalf of the wife but also the wife can accuse the husband of adultery to the police.  Because, according to the Korean Criminal Law, unlikely with U.S. law, a married person who commits adultery shall be punished by immprisonment for not more than 2 years.

© 2008 Wonil Chung, a Korean Criminal Lawyer/Chung & Partners, a Korean Criminal Law Firm.  All rights reserved. Some copyrights, photos, icons, trademarks, trade dress, or other commercial symbols that appear on this post are the property of the respective owners.