Supreme Court: Conductor Geum Nan-sae Must Be Registered as 'Geum', Not 'Kim', in Family Registry

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Conductor Geum Nan-sae has won the final legal battle over the surname recorded on his family relation registration and is now allowed to use the surname 'Geum.'

The Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Min Yoo-sook) overturned the lower court's ruling that dismissed Geum's appeal to change the surname recorded as 'Kim' on the family relation registration to 'Geum,' and remanded the case to the Busan Family Court for a ruling in favor of the plaintiff, the court announced on the 21st.

Although Geum used the surname 'Geum' on his resident registration card, passport, and driver's license, the family relation registration listed his surname as 'Kim.' Because of this, he was unable to inherit from his father, who bore the surname Geum, and thus filed a lawsuit to have the surname on the family relation registration changed.

Geum's father, the late composer Geum Su-hyun, had the surname 'Kim' on his family register but changed it to 'Geum' (金) after Korea's liberation, reading the Chinese character as it is. Geum Nan-sae's name was also given in pure Korean from birth and used accordingly. The name 'Geum Nan-sae' means 'a bird flying in the sky.'

Although the first and second trials ruled against the plaintiff, the Supreme Court ruled differently. The court stated, "If the applicant has used the Chinese-character surname 'Kim' as the Korean surname 'Geum' since birth or childhood and has formed a long-standing personal and public life under this name, there is sufficient reason to correct the surname on the family relation registration to 'Geum.' This aligns with the original purpose and function of the family relation registration system."