Latest news with #CheongjuDistrictCourt
Korea Herald
28-04-2025
- General
- Korea Herald
Court approves 'full adoption' of stepdaughter
Stepfather applies for family name change to prevent social prejudice and confusion for his adopted child A recent civil court ruling granted a South Korean man the right to fully adopt his China-born stepdaughter, changing her family name and place of family origin to avoid possible discrimination and confusion on the child's part. The Korea Legal Aid Corp. said Monday that the Cheongju District Court ruled in favor of a plaintiff who sought to give his surname to his stepdaughter. His wife, a North Korean defector, had given birth to the girl with a Chinese man during her time in China before moving to South Korea and marrying the plaintiff. Despite the daughter fully accepting the plaintiff as the father, she reportedly faced confusion after entering elementary school and noticing that she, unlike her classmates, had a different last name from her father. The father requested help from the KLAC, which represented him in the civil case. The court ruled that it is reasonable for the girl to be fully adopted for her emotional stability and well-being. It acknowledged the KLAC's claim that the child is satisfied with her current life, and that the family does not know her biological father's whereabouts or whether he is even alive. 'Full adoption' and how it works Full adoption, as it is known in the law, was incorporated into the Civil Act and came into effect in 2008 under a revision to Articles 908-2 through 908-8. It terminates all family relations and inheritance rights related to an adoptee's biological parent and establishes a complete familial relationship with the adoptive parent. The main change is that an adopted child is granted the same legal status as a biological child. Korea's adoption laws state that an adopted child is to maintain the biological father's family name and place of registration -- referring to the biological family's place of origin -- but these are changed to those of the adopted father upon full adoption. Under Article 781 of the Civil Act, children in Korea take the father's family name and place of registration unless the parents agreed at the time of marriage to have the child take the mother's name and place or when the biological father is unknown. Changes to a surname or place of registration can be granted by a court. To be granted full adoption, a child has to be a legal minor on the date of the court's ruling, and the parents must have been married for at least three years. Full adoption by a single parent had been impossible in the past, but the National Assembly in 2022 revised the law to allow single parents aged at least 25 to fully adopt a child. The biological parent must consent to the full adoption unless their whereabouts are unknown or their parental rights have been terminated by a court ruling. The system of full adoption was implemented to prevent adopted children from facing discrimination in matters of inheritance and broader societal prejudice. Surveys indicate that there remains significant prejudice against those who are adopted. A July 2024 survey by local outlet Hankook Research on 1,000 adults showed that 26 percent of respondents felt some discomfort with the idea of an adoptee marrying their child, with 14 percent saying they are uncomfortable with an adoptee befriending their child. Half of the respondents said they feel neither positively nor negatively toward adoption, with 42 percent saying they have positive feelings toward it. Although less than 10 percent said they personally have bad feelings toward adoption, 37 percent said they think Korean society as a whole does harbor negative feelings toward adoptees and adopted families.
Korea Herald
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Comfort woman's family wins compensation suit against Japan in South Korean court
The family of a late comfort woman has won a damages suit against the Japanese government in South Korea, a local court said Friday. The Cheongju District Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Lee Man-young, the son of the late Gil Gap-soon, ordering the Japanese government to pay 200 million won (approximately $139,000) in compensation. This marks the third time a Korean court has issued a ruling recognizing the Japanese government's liability for compensating comfort women victims and their families. "Both countries are signatories to the Hague Convention, which acknowledges mutual judicial jurisdiction and treats a nation as a legal entity. Although we have not yet received the official ruling, it appears the court accepted these arguments and acknowledged Japan's liability for damages," the plaintiff's attorney said. Born in 1924 in Muju, 183 kilometers south of Seoul, Gil Gap-soon was taken to Nagasaki, Japan, in 1941 at the age of 17 and forced to live as a comfort woman. She died in 1998 at the age of 74 from acute lung cancer. Her son filed the lawsuit in January last year, and the ruling came after just two hearings. The Japanese government did not appear in court up to the day the verdict was delivered, the attorney said. In response to the latest ruling, the Japanese government expressed strong regret, saying the decision "clearly violates international law and agreements between South Korea and Japan" and is "completely unacceptable." Japan also summoned the South Korean ambassador to lodge a protest over the ruling. Previously, in 2023, the Seoul High Court overturned a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit filed by 16 plaintiffs, including survivor Lee Yong-soo and the families of the late Kwak Ye-nam and Kim Bok-dong, which had been dismissed on the grounds of sovereign immunity. The appeals court ordered Japan to pay 200 million won to each plaintiff. In 2021, the Seoul Central District Court also ruled in favor of 12 victims, including the late Bae Chun-hee, ordering Japan to pay 100 million won to each plaintiff. (Yonhap)
The Mainichi
26-04-2025
- Politics
- The Mainichi
S. Korea court orders Japan to pay compensation over 'comfort women'
SEOUL (Kyodo) -- A South Korean court on Friday ordered the Japanese government to pay compensation to the son of a former "comfort woman" over her treatment in military brothels during World War II. The Cheongju District Court's decision over the case, where the son had sought 200 million won ($140,000), was the third known South Korean ruling in favor of comfort women, following ones in January 2021 and November 2023 that were later finalized as Japan skipped the hearings and did not appeal to the Supreme Court. Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said in a statement that the ruling, which the government believes contradicts international law and a 1965 bilateral agreement, is "extremely regrettable and absolutely unacceptable." Iwaya said the court decision denies "sovereign immunity," a concept under international law that a state is immune from the jurisdiction of a court in another country. Japan has taken the position that all claims related to its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula were settled "completely and finally" under the 1965 pact under which it provided financial aid to South Korea. The comfort women issue has repeatedly soured relations between the two countries, even after they agreed to settle the matter "finally and irreversibly" in an accord in 2015. Under the accord, the Japanese government contributed 1 billion yen ($7 million) to a foundation set up in South Korea. The funds were then distributed to former comfort women and the families of those who died. But some refused to accept the money, calling instead for an official apology and compensation from Japan.
Kyodo News
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Kyodo News
South Korea court orders Japan to pay compensation over "comfort women"
KYODO NEWS - 3 hours ago - 22:18 | World, All A South Korean court on Friday ordered the Japanese government to pay compensation to the son of a former "comfort woman" over her treatment in military brothels during World War II. The Cheongju District Court's decision over the case, where the son had sought 200 million won ($140,000), was the third known South Korean ruling in favor of comfort women, following ones in January 2021 and November 2023 that were later finalized as Japan skipped the hearings and did not appeal to the Supreme Court. Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said in a statement that the ruling, which the government believes contradicts international law and a 1965 bilateral agreement, is "extremely regrettable and absolutely unacceptable." Iwaya said the court decision denies "sovereign immunity," a concept under international law that a state is immune from the jurisdiction of a court in another country. Japan has taken the position that all claims related to its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula were settled "completely and finally" under the 1965 pact under which it provided financial aid to South Korea. The comfort women issue has repeatedly soured relations between the two countries, even after they agreed to settle the matter "finally and irreversibly" in an accord in 2015. Under the accord, the Japanese government contributed 1 billion yen ($7 million) to a foundation set up in South Korea. The funds were then distributed to former comfort women and the families of those who died. But some refused to accept the money, calling instead for an official apology and compensation from Japan.
Kyodo News
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Kyodo News
South Korea court orders Japan to pay compensation over "comfort women"
KYODO NEWS - 10 minutes ago - 22:18 | World, All A South Korean court on Friday ordered the Japanese government to pay compensation to the son of a former "comfort woman" over her treatment in military brothels during World War II. The Cheongju District Court's decision over the case, where the son had sought 200 million won ($140,000), was the third known South Korean ruling in favor of comfort women, following ones in January 2021 and November 2023 that were later finalized as Japan skipped the hearings and did not appeal to the Supreme Court. Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said in a statement that the ruling, which the government believes contradicts international law and a 1965 bilateral agreement, is "extremely regrettable and absolutely unacceptable." Iwaya said the court decision denies "sovereign immunity," a concept under international law that a state is immune from the jurisdiction of a court in another country. Japan has taken the position that all claims related to its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula were settled "completely and finally" under the 1965 pact under which it provided financial aid to South Korea. The comfort women issue has repeatedly soured relations between the two countries, even after they agreed to settle the matter "finally and irreversibly" in an accord in 2015. Under the accord, the Japanese government contributed 1 billion yen ($7 million) to a foundation set up in South Korea. The funds were then distributed to former comfort women and the families of those who died. But some refused to accept the money, calling instead for an official apology and compensation from Japan.
