Children Born but Missing from Official Records, Welfare Blind Spots to Be Eliminated

[Financial News] The government will revise the system so that children who have been born but not registered, and their parents, do not miss out on welfare benefits.
On the 29th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that, together with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS), it will expand inter-ministerial cooperation and support so that unregistered children, including those of unmarried fathers, are not excluded from welfare benefits due to administrative procedures.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare will strengthen the linkage of welfare services by using social security identification numbers. Even before a child’s birth is officially registered, the ministry plans to improve the system so that, using the identification number assigned by local governments, children can receive essential welfare benefits such as child allowances and medical support without interruption. To this end, the ministry will review how these identification numbers are currently used in cooperation with the Korea Social Security Information Service and upgrade relevant system functions within the first half of the year.
The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea has been implementing a birth notification system since July 2024. Under this system, medical institutions report birth information so that a child’s birth is officially verified and the "right to be registered immediately after birth" is guaranteed.
The ministry is also pursuing amendments to the Civil Act of the Republic of Korea and the Act on Registration of Family Relations so that unmarried fathers do not face legal obstacles when reporting the birth of their children.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) is reviewing ways to reflect local governments’ performance in protecting and supporting unregistered children in their official evaluations, so that municipalities will take a more active role.
These joint government measures were prompted by a recent case in which the birth registration of a child of an unmarried father was delayed due to legal procedures, such as paternity verification, resulting in the family being unable to receive a childbirth incentive payment.
An unmarried father, identified as Mr. A, attempted to report the birth of his child born out of wedlock and applied for a childbirth incentive while the court was processing the birth registration procedure. However, under the relevant municipal ordinance, the childbirth incentive was granted based on resident registration, and he ultimately did not receive the payment. Under the Act on Registration of Family Relations, the mother is required to report the birth of a child born out of wedlock, and it can take up to 28 months for an unmarried father to complete the birth registration through court confirmation. After this case, the local government with jurisdiction over Mr. A began procedures to amend its ordinance so that, where there is a legitimate reason for delayed birth registration, applications for childbirth incentives can be filed within two years from the date of birth registration.
1st Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Seu-ran stated, "Regardless of whether a child has a resident registration number, we will use the identification number in the social security system to ensure that not a single child is left out of welfare benefits, breaking down barriers between ministries and paying close attention to every case."

skjung@fnnews.com Jeong Sang-geun Reporter