Ministry Says "Advance Child Support Payment System Being Built in Stages... Application and Disbursement System Completed"

National Assembly Points Out Incomplete System Development
Ministry of Gender Equality and Family: "System Development for Implementation Completed"
"Meticulously Established from Disbursement to Recovery"

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced on June 29 that the system for applying, receiving, and disbursing advance child support payments, which will be implemented starting July 1, has been fully developed. This statement was made in response to concerns that the related system had not been properly established. The ministry also confirmed that the inter-agency linkage system has been completed.

According to the relevant legislation, the recovery of advance child support payments must be conducted at least once a year on a regular basis. However, the ministry has set a plan to recover payments every six months. Beginning in January next year, the recovery process will involve notification, demand for payment, investigation of the debtor's assets, and compulsory collection.

In particular, the Child Support Agency has previously conducted seizures of deposits, salaries, vehicles, and virtual assets to recover temporary emergency child support payments. For the recovery of advance child support payments, the agency is currently conducting a final review of the basic system design in consultation with the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute. As a result, the recovery of advance payments from 2026 onward is expected to be carried out through an additionally developed computerized system and integrated network. The ministry added, "We will meticulously establish the necessary systems for each stage to ensure that the process from disbursement to recovery is implemented and settled without any issues."

Previously, Representative Baek Seunga of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee, pointed out that although the advance child support payment system is set to be implemented for the first time on July 1, key systems such as the collection of debtor assets have not been properly established. According to materials Baek received from the ministry, the ministry stated its intention to complete the development of various advance payment business functions (Phase 2) by the end of this year and to finish linking the computerized networks of other agencies for compulsory collection from child support debtors (Phase 3) by the first half of next year.

However, the ministry released an explanatory statement on the same day, clarifying that "the system is being established step by step to ensure the advance child support payment system is implemented without any issues," and that "the application and disbursement system for advance payments has been fully developed."