Implementation of Birth Notification System and Protected Childbirth System Starting from the 19th
If parents do not register a birth, the 'Birth Notification System' will be implemented to allow birth registration using information from medical institutions. This is to prevent unregistered children from being denied legal rights or facing risks of murder, abandonment, or abuse.
The Supreme Court's Judicial Registration Bureau announced on the 17th that the Birth Notification System will be implemented starting on the 19th. Accordingly, if parents do not register a birth, the head of the relevant city (district), town, or township can register the birth with the approval of the supervisory court based on birth information notified by the medical institution. However, even after this system is implemented, parents must still register the birth as before.
The Protected Birth System will be implemented starting on the 19th. The Protected Birth System was introduced considering the possibility that women who wish to keep their childbirth secret might avoid giving birth at medical institutions.
If a pregnant woman in crisis applies for protected birth or requests child protection after childbirth, the head of the local counseling center notifies the head of the city (district), town, or township with jurisdiction over the counseling center's location of birth information including a de-identified pseudonym and management number related to the child's biological mother. The notified city (district), town, or township head can register the birth with the approval of the family court for the creation of the child's name and family registry.
The Birth Registration System and Protected Birth System were created to protect so-called 'shadow children' who face risks of murder, abandonment, or abuse without even having their births registered.
Until now, children were assigned resident registration numbers when their guardians registered their births after birth. Although legal guardians, the parents, are required to register the birth within one month, failure to do so was not subject to criminal punishment and the fines were low, which led to incidents such as the 'Suwon Infant Refrigerator Corpse Abandonment Case.'
In response, the government has introduced related systems so that local governments can register births ex officio even if parents do not register the birth.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
