From July, License Suspension and Travel Ban for Non-Payment of Child Support... The Issue is 'Enforcement'

Administrative measures possible after detention order
but many exceptions raise concerns about enforcement effectiveness
Detention citation enforcement rate remains at 10%
Discussion needed on introducing 'Advance Child Support Allowance'

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Starting from the 13th of next month, the revised "Child Support Enforcement Act," which allows license suspension, travel bans, and public disclosure of names if child support is not paid despite a court detention order for non-payment, will be enforced. However, there are claims that the law has loopholes.

According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on the 23rd, under the revised act, debtors who fail to comply with child support payments despite a court detention order will have their names disclosed on the Ministry’s website and face sanctions such as driver's license suspension and travel bans. If child support is not paid within one year, criminal penalties (up to one year imprisonment or fines up to 10 million KRW) may also be imposed.

Name disclosure, license suspension, and travel bans apply only after failure to comply with a detention order and require review and resolution by the Child Support Enforcement Deliberation Committee. Driver’s license suspension is exempted if the purpose is to maintain livelihood. Name disclosure is also exempted if the debtor has paid more than half of the debt and has prepared a payment plan. Even if the creditor requests name disclosure, the debtor can file an objection before the disclosure. Travel bans apply only if the debt is 50 million KRW or more, or if the debt is 30 million KRW or more and the debtor has traveled abroad three or more times within a year or stayed abroad for more than six months.

These measures apply only after a court detention order is issued. As of last year, there were 250 detention orders issued, but only 25 were enforced, resulting in a 10% enforcement rate. Detention orders require the child support debtor to appear in court, and if the detention order is served by public notice, it may be dismissed. Many evade enforcement by partially paying before the detention order is issued. If the court cannot detain the debtor within six months after issuing the order, the order loses its effect.

Senior Researcher Park Boksun of the Women’s Policy Institute pointed out, "The importance of detention order decisions is more highlighted than ever, but if many detention orders are dismissed, even strengthened enforcement measures become meaningless," and added, "The court’s practice regarding detention orders should be improved and the requirements for detention orders should be further relaxed." A Ministry of Gender Equality and Family official said, "The problem is that even after detention orders, child support is not properly paid, but the courts do not have statistical data on the scale of child support claims or payment rates."

Women’s groups argue that to solve the problem of non-payment of child support, a "Child Support Advance Payment Allowance" should be introduced. This system allows the state to pay child support in advance if the debtor fails to pay, and then recover the amount from the debtor. The Ministry currently provides a temporary emergency child support assistance system, paying 200,000 KRW per month per person to single-parent families facing livelihood difficulties due to unemployment, business closure, illness, etc. From 2015 to last year, only 2.3% of the emergency support amount was recovered from debtors. In the 21st National Assembly, a bill has been proposed to add advance payment to the duties of the Child Support Enforcement Agency and to expand emergency support to child support advance payments.

Senior Researcher Park Boksun said, "Even after improvements to the child support system, the problem remains unresolved. Although the necessity has been recognized for several years, it has not been actively pursued due to budget issues," and added, "Social discussion on funding for child support advance payments is necessary."