Penalties for Nonpayment of Child Support to Be Toughened... Up to 3 Years in Prison and a 30 Million Won Fine

[Financial News] The government will strengthen penalties for intentional nonpayment of child support. It will raise the maximum criminal penalty to three years in prison and expand the scope of debtors whose immigration records can be checked.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family held the 52nd Child Support Enforcement Deliberation Committee meeting at Government Complex Seoul on the 24th and approved measures to improve the system for securing child support payments.
The government first decided to increase criminal penalties for nonpayment of child support. By revising the Act on Securing and Supporting Child Support Payments, it will toughen the punishment from up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won to up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won. The grace period after a detention order, which currently lasts one year before criminal punishment is imposed, will also be shortened to six months.
The range of child support debtors whose immigration data can be reviewed will also be expanded. At present, related data can be requested without the debtor's consent only for debtors subject to advance child support payments. Going forward, the government plans to extend this to debtors eligible for child support enforcement support.
The recovery process for advance child support payments will also be strengthened. The government will provide delinquency information on advance payments to the National Tax Delinquency Management Unit of the National Tax Service so it can notify delinquent payers, and it will also push to link the two agencies' computer networks to share delinquency information more quickly.
The sanctions approved that day included 117 travel bans, 142 driver's license suspensions, and 63 public disclosures of names. The average child support debt of those subject to sanctions was about 45 million won, while the largest debt was 280 million won.
Won Min-kyong, minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, said, "Child support is a basic responsibility that parents must fulfill for the stable lives and growth of their minor children," adding, "We will strengthen accountability for intentional nonpayment and improve the effectiveness of the system so that it leads to actual payments."
[email protected] Kim Chan-mi Reporter