The government imposed administrative sanctions, including travel bans, driver's license suspensions, and public disclosures of names, on 200 parents who divorced and failed to pay child support. Additionally, starting in September, the government plans to implement a system to prevent loopholes that allow for only partial child support payments.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family held the 44th Child Support Enforcement Deliberation Committee on the 21st and 22nd and announced this decision on the 26th.
The committee decided on a total of 226 sanctions against 200 child support debtors. Their average debt amount is 51.95 million won. The highest child support debt amounts to 319.7 million won.
By type of sanctions, travel bans account for the most at 143 cases, followed by driver's license suspensions (72 cases) and public disclosures of names (11 cases). Sanctions can overlap.
The government continues to strengthen these sanctions. Last September, the sanction process for child support debtors was simplified. Previously, sanctions were imposed following compliance orders and confinement orders, but the confinement order has been excluded. As a result, the number of sanctions has increased by 29.4% to 792 cases from January to September this year, compared to 612 cases during the same period last year.
Additionally, the committee has prepared a system to prevent those who evade their obligations by making only minimal child support payments. Since July, the government has been implementing a prior payment system that gives 200,000 won per month to children from single-parent families who are not receiving child support until they turn 18. This applies to cases where the debtor has not made payments for three consecutive months or three or more times. Consequently, some parents who have received only small amounts have been excluded from the prior payment system.
Accordingly, the government has allowed applicants for prior payments even if the average monthly child support falls below 200,000 won. However, if the non-custodial parent has provided some money, only the remainder amount will be provided. For example, if 100,000 won was received, the government will give only 100,000 won.
The ministry said, 'It is expected that the improvement of the system will allow single-parent families that previously could not apply for prior support to receive assistance.'