The Reform of the Consensual Divorce Process and the Child Support Enforcement System in Korea

In 2007 and 2009, the National Assembly, the Korean legislature, enacted laws to address some of the problems caused by the high divorce rate. The resulting changes in the divorce process in Korea are twofold: one is the overall reform of the consensual divorce process, and the other is the introduction of a special child support enforcement system. One of the two main features of consensual divorce process reformation is the adoption of the waiting period system. One aim of the waiting system is to protect minor children from their parent’s hasty divorce. The second feature of the reformation is that spouses who apply for divorce, if they have minor children, should submit to the family court either an agreement concerning the rearing of their children or the original copy of the decision of the court on the same issue as a substitute for an agreement. Also, under the new special child support enforcement system, the protocol of the child support agreement is recognized as a title of execution and the direct payment order system is introduced to secure the child support payment. In addition, during the past 18th legislative period, several bills were proposed to adopt the advance child support payment system though they failed to pass the National Assembly.