ENGLISH

- A child’s fostering person must have the child in protection to foster. However, if the other party who is not a fostering person has taken the child and refuses to give the child back, it is not desirable for the fostering person to willfully take the child because self-help by force is prohibited in principle.

- A fostering person can claim for a child handover adjudication to bring the child back [Article 2(1)2(b)(iii) of the Family Litigation Act].

- It may take time for a child handover adjudication to become final. If there is a cause requiring the child to be handed over quickly, an advance child handover measure may be requested at the court, hearing the case to bring the child home before the adjudication is final (Article 62 of the Family Litigation Act).

- If the other party fails to send the child after receiving a child handover order, the party seeking the handover may request the family court to issue an order calling for the child handover obligation to be performed (implementation order) (Article 64 of the Family Litigation Act).

- If the other party fails to comply with an implementation order, an administrative fine not exceeding KRW 1 million may be imposed on the other party by another request to the family court (Article 67(1) of the Family Litigation Act). If the child is not handed over within the next 30 days, performance may be compelled by detaining (holding) the other party at a detention facility such as a police holding cell, penitentiary, detention center, etc. (Article 68(1)2 of the Family Litigation Act).

- In addition to an implementation order, the child may be taken forcibly by delegating an enforcement officer (Article 41 of the Family Litigation Act), but be advised the child may be traumatized in the enforcement process.