▲ Person A protesting in front of Busan City Hall


When the son died after 54 years of no contact, a court decision was made to ban the payment of insurance money to the mother who appeared to collect the death benefit.



The request of the bereaved family that they should not give the right to inherit property such as the insurance money of the deceased son to the parents who did not fulfill their duty of support was accepted.



A (60), the older sister of a 50-year-old man who went missing while working as a deckman for a fishing boat that sank off the coast of Geoje Island, Gyeongsangnam-do early last year, made this decision at the Western Branch of the Busan District Court in response to an application for a 'provisional disposition to ban payment of compensation for survivors and seafarers' wages' against her mother. It was announced today (17th) that this was taken down.



According to the decision, the court ordered that the National Association of Fisheries Cooperatives, an insurance payout institution, not to perform any dispositions such as endorsement and transfer for the payment of compensation, and not to pay insurance money, wages, etc.



The court stated that the request for an injunction against the payment of compensation and seafarers' wages was justified.




Currently, the so-called 'Goo Hara Act' (Civil Law Amendment Bill), which restricts the inheritance rights of parents who have not fulfilled their duty of support, is being implemented for public officials.



However, this court decision is drawing attention as it has not yet been applied to the general public and there is a controversy over the 'half law'.



The amendment bill for the general application of the Goo Hara Act is pending in the National Assembly, and on the 13th, the day after Mr. A's story was widely reported in the media, Seo Young-gyo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who has led the revision of the related law, held a press conference urging the passage of the bill. I did too.



The money coming from Mr. A's brother amounts to 300 million won, including 250 million won for death insurance and 50 million won from a shipping company.



Mr. A is going to have a legal dispute with her mother over the property rights of her brother's insurance money, etc. through this lawsuit.



Mr. A said, "My mother remarried when my younger brother was 3 years old, I was 6 years old, and my brother was 9 years old. "I can't even eat a bowl of warm rice and I don't even know his face. Does it make sense that such a person will appear after 54 years and collect the insurance for his son's death?"



It is said that his father died before his younger brother was born, and his younger brother is not married and has no wife or children.



He said, "My grandmother and aunt raised my three children even in difficult circumstances. They are the ones who should receive insurance money. But my mother says she will take all of her brother's insurance money without sharing it with us. It's so unfair and angry. If you want to take all of your money, I will file a child support lawsuit.”



He said, "Once again, I urge the swift passage of the 'Goo Hara Act', which is pending in the Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly. Please make sure that it is properly implemented so that it applies to all people, not just half the law that only applies to public officials as it is now."



(Photo = provided by Mr. A, Yonhap News)