가족법상 북한이탈주민의 남한사회 정착 지원 방안에 관한 연구 - 이혼의 특례를 중심으로

Study on Supporting Settlement of North Korean Defectors in South Korea based on the Family Law - Focusing on the Divorce Exemption Provision -

&nbsp;&nbsp;This treatise is triggered by an incident in July of 2003 in which divorce cases were filed by North Korean refugees who had been married in the North but left their spouses in the North in order to settle in the South, against their North Korean spouses wishes. As of July 2006, a total of 208 divorce lawsuits were filed, but they were left pending by the Seoul Family Court on account of looking into legal issues, thus posing an obstacle to the refugees&quot; successful settlement in the South.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;This treatise is triggered by an incident in which the North Korean refugees who were married in the North but left their spouses to settle in the South filed for divorce in July of 2003. As of July 2007, a total of 208 divorce cases were filed and left pending by the Seoul District Court in order to study legal issues. This poses an obstacle to successful settlement in the South for these refugees.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Act on the Protection and Settlement Support of Residents Escaping from North Korea, revised January 26, 2007, added special provisions for divorce in consideration of the above-mentioned development, allowing the previously pending divorce cases to be resolved. The issues discussed in the legislation of the special divorce provision shall be the focus of this treatise.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;The special divorce provision applies to North Korean refugees, protectees of the Act, and not accompanied by their spouse, so that they can marry in the South. A divorce from the spouse in the North is now possible if the proctectee is registered in the Family Register by divorce litigation and is then able to remarry. However, it is impossible to verify the presence of the spouse in the North and also to verify the relationship between them, so it is possible that divorce lawsuits may filed based on false Family Register records, causing significant legal and social cost.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;As a matter of legislation, this treatise proposes that North Korean refugees, when registering family relationships, concludes their Family Register by specially allowed divorce, and not record the North Korean spouses when creating a new Family Register. This will allow the state to avoid legal responsibility on account of negligent legislation in the cases where North Korean spouses reunite with their separated families, thus reducing reunification cost for Korea.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;This treatise is structured as follows:<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Ⅰ. Introduction<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Ⅱ. Protection of the residents escaping from North Korean<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Ⅲ. Problems of Creation of Family Register<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Ⅳ. Legislation and interpretation of special provision on divorce<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Ⅴ. Reunion of dispersed family members and bigamy<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Ⅵ. Conclusion