ENGLISH

· The Supreme Court’s position on whether the payment of past child support may be sought is as follows (Supreme Court Decision 92Seu21 of May 13, 1994): “If, due to some circumstance, only one of a child’s parents came to foster the child, in the absence of extraordinary circumstances such as one parent fostering the child alone for a one-sided and selfish purpose or motivation, such a fostering arrangement being unhelpful for the child’s interest, or causing the other party to bear the burden of child support, etc., being contrary to equity, the party fostering the child may seek not only the other party’s payment of an appropriate share of current and future child support but also repayment for the cost of past child support where it is found reasonable for the other party to bear such a share, as a child’s parent bears an obligation to foster the child arises with the child’s birth unless there are extraordinary circumstances.” However, “If the fostering person causes the other party to bear the entirety of past child support from before the claim for child support was brought, the other party would bear the unexpected burden of child support all at once in an unduly harsh result that may violate the principles of good faith or proportionality. Therefore, in such a case, the child support does not necessarily have to be determined by the same standards as child support after the claim for performance; rather, the appropriate scope of the burden may be determined in consideration of various circumstances such as how one parent came to foster the child, the amount spent on such fostering, whether and when the other party became aware of the support obligation, whether the expense was ordinary living expenses for fostering or a large amount of extraordinary expenses required for exceptional and unavoidable occasions (treatment expenses, etc.), the parties’ property status, income potential, equity of the burden, etc.”

· If no agreement is reached on the share of child support, etc., support through counseling or reaching a successful agreement may be sought at the Child Support Agency, which was established under the Korean Institute for Healthy Family for working on claims, enforcement, support, etc. of child support for minor children (Articles 7(1) and 10(1) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).

· If, as a result of counseling, the fostering and nonfostering parents reach an agreement on matters such as shares of child support, the Child Support Agency may provide support for the implementation of the agreement (Article 10(2) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).

· The fostering parent may apply to the Child Support Agency for legal aid to secure an execution title for child support, such as litigation counsel for admission of parenthood of the child and a claim for child support (Article 11(1) of the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment).