A man in his 40s, referred to as Mr. A, was sentenced to six months in prison for failing to pay approximately 100 million won in child support for his two children over a decade after his divorce, a violation of the Child Support Implementation Act. The court found that Mr. A deliberately withheld monthly child support payments ranging from 400,000 won to 800,000 won, despite having income from working as an excavator operator. Additionally, Mr. A was ordered by the court in 2022 to fulfill his child support obligations but failed to make payments for a year.
If someone like Mr. A resists a court order to pay child support, they may face sanctions such as travel bans, driver's license suspensions, or having their name publicly disclosed. There were 947 cases of such sanctions recorded last year, which is over 35 times more than when these measures were first implemented in 2021.
◇ total of 1,972 travel bans over four years for 'bad parents' not paying child support
According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, there have been a total of 1,972 sanctions against parents who failed to pay child support from 2021 to last year. These included 1,147 travel bans, 727 driver's license suspensions, and 98 cases of name disclosure.
These sanctions are imposed after the parent entitled to receive child support submits an application to the Child Support Obligation Enforcement Agency, requesting sanctions against the non-compliant individual. Applicants can choose the desired sanctions and apply to the government, with the option to request all three types of sanctions.
If the application is accepted, driving licenses are suspended for 100 days, travel bans last up to six months, and name disclosures occur for three years. All of these measures can be extended through reapplication.
The trends of travel bans and driver's license suspensions are steadily increasing. Travel bans numbered only nine in 2021, but rose to 116 in 2022, 367 in 2023, and 655 last year. A Ministry of Gender Equality and Family official noted that travel ban requests are mainly made when the child support obligor is financially well-off and resides abroad or has remarried a foreign national. Some travel-ban subjects reportedly traveled overseas for golf while neglecting child support payments.
Driver's license suspensions also significantly increased from 16 cases in 2021 to 215 cases in 2022. The upward trend continued with 230 cases in 2023 and 266 last year. A Ministry of Gender Equality and Family official noted that suspending a driver's license can be an effective measure because it disrupts business activities and daily life.
◇ even with increased sanctions, 40% of single-parent families remain unpaid in child support
Not all individuals subjected to these measures pay the full amount of child support. Since 2021, only seven out of 98 individuals whose names, ages, and addresses were publicly disclosed have been removed from the sanctions list. To be removed, the full amount of child support must be paid. Some individuals have reportedly not paid child support for 20 years and seven months or missed payments totaling up to 179.8 million won.
A divorce lawyer commented that if the individual is not a public figure, being listed in the name disclosure database may not cause significant inconvenience in daily life. This is suggested as a reason why name disclosures decreased last year (26 cases) compared to 2023 (42 cases).
A substantial number of individuals still do not utilize these sanctions despite not receiving child support. A past survey conducted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family showed that about 40% (1,195) of single-parent household heads with regular child support claims did not receive payments. As of the end of last year, 768 individuals were facing sanctions.
Lee Young, head of the Child Support Resolution Association, noted, 'An increase in government sanctions does not correlate with an increase in child support payment rates.' The current sanctions being enforced are seen as largely ineffective, and the focus should be on policies that provide tangible support to single-parent families not receiving child support, rather than on criminal penalties or sanctions.