South Korea Approves 184 Sanctions for Child Support Defaulters

SEOUL, June 21 (Yonhap) -- The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Sunday it has approved 184 sanctions against 166 people who failed to meet their child support obligations, including travel bans and driver's license suspensions.

The sanctions, approved by the 51st child support enforcement review committee earlier this month, included 120 travel bans, 41 driver's license suspensions and 23 cases of public disclosure of personal information, according to the ministry.

The average amount of unpaid child support stood at about 45 million won (US$29,354), while the largest outstanding amount totaled approximately 192 million won.

Under the Child Support Act, sanctions may be imposed on individuals who fail to comply with a court order requiring a lump-sum child support payment for more than 30 days, those who miss child support payments at least three times despite a court enforcement order, or those whose unpaid child support exceeds 30 million won.

The number of sanctions has risen steadily, from 639 cases in 2023 to 947 in 2024 and 1,389 last year. In the first half of this year alone, 720 sanctions were approved.

Gender Equality Minister Won Min-kyong pledged to strengthen enforcement measures, saying the government would seek more effective penalties to help ease the financial burden on single-parent families that do not receive child support payments on time.