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A civic group was to lodge criminal complaints Wednesday against two divorced parents who failed to make mandatory child support payments, the first criminal cases to be filed over delinquent child support payments.
The civic group, Yanghaeyeon, said it plans to file the complaints with the Seoul Suseo Police Station accusing a mother and a father of violating the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment.
It marks the first criminal cases for delinquent child support payments since a revision of the act in July last year made it possible to punish those who do not pay their dues.
Under the revised law, parents who fail to pay child support can be punished with up to one-year imprisonment or a fine of 10 million won ($7,029) if they fail to make payments within a year upon the court issuance of a temporary detention order due to delinquency.
The divorced father in question owes 120 million won in child support payments. Having failed to make payments for over 10 years, he was given a temporary detention order from a court in August and separately issued an overseas travel ban, identity disclosure and the suspension of his driver's license.
The mother has failed to make payments since 2018 for her two sons currently being raised by their father even though she lives in a posh district of Seoul and drives a luxury car. The civic group said she concealed her actual address and received her salary in cash to evade payments. (Yonhap)
