Jeon Ji-hyun appointed first head of child support enforcement agency in Korea

The Child Support Enforcement Agency, an organization under the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, announced that Jeon Ji-hyun (45), a former administrative officer at the Presidential Office of the current government, has been inaugurated as the first head on the 17th. The term for the new head is three years.

The former head previously served as an administrative officer in the communications office of the Presidential Office of the current government and was active as a director of the Economic and Social Research Institute, a non-standing director of the Korean Women Lawyers Association, and an attorney at the law firm Sihwa.

The Child Support Enforcement Agency was established as a separate organization from the Korean Healthy Family Promotion Agency after the Child Support Enforcement Act was revised in September last year. This agency is responsible for identifying the whereabouts of child support debtors through the shared administrative information network of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. It will also support prompt child support payments by obtaining information on hidden assets of child support debtors using the National Tax Service's comprehensive income or earned income data.

Additionally, it will handle tasks related to the application, reception, review, payment, and recovery of the newly introduced advance child support payment system starting this July. The advance child support payment system prioritizes payment by the state to single-parent families who have child support claims but are unable to receive their child support, then recovers the payments from the non-custodial parent.

The Enforcement Agency noted, "We expect that the former head will provide a more substantive child support enforcement assistance service, given her knowledge and rich experience in the legal field as an attorney."

However, following the inauguration of the former head, members of the Democratic Party of Korea in the National Assembly's Committee on Gender Equality and Family issued a statement condemning this appointment. They stated, "We pointed out that the qualifications were changed to appoint someone categorized as lacking expertise and close to Kim Keon-hee during the last National Assembly audit, but the appointment was forcibly carried out despite this," criticizing it as an 'unqualified appointment.'

In this regard, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family stated, "There is a high possibility that related lawsuits will increase after the implementation of the advance child support payment system, so legal services are expected to increase," and added, "We believe it was necessary to appoint the former head as the appropriate person for related tasks."

☞ Jeon Ji-hyun, the first head of the Child Support Enforcement Agency, is

▲ Non-standing director of the Korean Women Lawyers Association ▲ Standing member of the National Unification Advisory Council ▲ Auditor of the National Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation ▲ Director of the Economic and Social Research Institute ▲ Administrative officer in the communications office of the Presidential Office