“If you don’t let me see the kids, you’ll never get child support” ... Ex-husband who failed to pay 30 million won after remarrying now seeks a reduction in child support [The Law, Explained]

[Financial News]  A woman’s story has emerged: her ex-husband, who has not paid child support for more than two years since remarrying, threatened to withhold support unless she let him see the children.
On the 11th, YTN Radio’s “Attorney Jo In-seop’s Counseling Center” featured the story of A, who said she had been raising her two sons, ages 10 and 8, alone since her divorce four years ago.
A began by saying, “The children are growing up by the day, and it hasn’t been easy raising them on my own. The hardest part is money.” She continued, “Every month, when the day comes for child support to arrive, I find myself checking my bank account first, hoping he might have sent it this month.”
At the time of the divorce, the court ordered her ex-husband to pay 700,000 won in child support per child each month. The payments came regularly for the first year, but reportedly stopped after he remarried.   
A said, “When I contact him about the money, he says, ‘Things are tight because we have a child in my new family.’ I waited, believing him when he said he would pay once his circumstances improved, but more than two years have passed, and the overdue child support alone exceeds 30 million won,” she said in frustration.
She continued, “I can’t put off paying for the children’s food and clothes or sending them to school indefinitely, can I? Even when I tell him it’s hard to manage everything alone, my ex-husband just says I should consider his circumstances too. I recently heard that he quit his job and moved to his father’s company. People around me said, ‘Isn’t he deliberately hiding his income?’ I’m frustrated because I have no way to find out whether that’s really what he’s doing.”
Her ex-husband instead said he would ask the court to reduce child support. When A asked him to pay the overdue amount first, he reportedly threatened her, saying, “If you don’t let me see the kids, you’ll never get child support again.” 
A said, “Sometimes I get so angry that I don’t want the children to see him, but they keep saying they want to see their dad, and that upsets me.” She asked for advice: “What steps should I take first to collect the overdue child support? Can I use the government’s child support advance payment program? Am I required to let him see the children even though he hasn’t paid a single penny in child support?” 
Attorney Lee Na-yong, who reviewed the case, explained, “Since the child support amount has already been set by a court ruling, several measures can be used to secure compliance. If the ex-husband receives a regular salary from a company and has failed to pay child support at least twice without a valid reason, she can apply for a ‘child support direct payment order,’ which requires the company to deduct the child support from his salary and pay it directly to her.”
Lee continued, “However, a direct payment order covers future child support deducted from his salary, so you will need to recover the overdue payments through compulsory enforcement. A compliance order is the first step toward sanctions such as suspension of his driver’s license or a ban on leaving the country, so it would be advisable to apply for one first.”
Lee also recommended checking the eligibility requirements for the “child support advance payment program,” explaining, “When a noncustodial parent fails to pay child support, the government pays up to 200,000 won per month for each minor child in advance and later recovers the money from the noncustodial parent.”
Regarding visitation, Lee said, “Payment of child support and visitation are legally separate matters. If she refuses visitation, her ex-husband can apply for a compliance order. If she continues to refuse, she may face a fine or that could count against her in a petition to change the custodial parent.” Lee advised, “If the children want to see their dad, it is best to continue visitation for their sake and pursue child support separately through legal procedures.”

[email protected] Kim Su-yeon Reporter