“My Korean boyfriend forced me to have an abortion. Can I receive child support for the child I raised alone in Thailand?”

YTN Radio ‘Attorney Jo In-seop’s Counseling Center’ Story

A Thai woman who came to Korea to study and became pregnant with a Korean man’s child, but returned to her home country to raise the child alone, sought legal advice regarding a claim for child support.

On the 15th, this story of a Thai woman, Ms. A, was told on YTN Radio’s ‘Attorney Jo In-seop’s Counseling Center’. According to her story, Ms. A, who came to Korea to study because she enjoyed listening to K-pop and fell in love with Korea, fell in love with a Korean man, Mr. B, and became pregnant with her child.

After much deliberation, Person A spoke to Person B, but Person B advised her to have an abortion, saying that she could not raise the baby without graduating or finding a job. Mr. A eventually broke up with Mr. B after repeated arguments, and she returned to Thailand, where she raised her child alone.

Person A could not bear to get rid of the baby in her stomach, and the two people who argued over this issue eventually broke up. Although her life as a single mother was not easy, Ms. A spent her happy days watching her son grow up day by day.

Mr. A, however, said, “I feel like I have committed a sin when my son says he wishes he had a father. Now that he is 5 years old, my son often asks about his father. “He even said that he really wanted to meet his father,” he said.

“I would like to contact my boyfriend and ask him to act as a father for my son and receive financial help,” she asked. “Can I file a lawsuit in Korea and receive child support from the child’s biological father?”

According to legal experts, it appears that Mr. A will be able to file a lawsuit for recognition in a Korean court against the biological father, Mr. B, on behalf of his child. The expert judged that in addition to claiming child support, it would be possible to request a certain amount of child support that has not been received so far.

Woo Jin-seo, a lawyer at Shinsegae Law Firm, believed that the case could be filed in a Korean court under international private law. He explained, “However, there is a need to discuss whether it is a matter where Korean law or Thai law should be applied.”

A recognition claim lawsuit refers to a lawsuit that establishes or confirms a legal parental relationship with a person outside of marriage. When a lawsuit begins, you must find personal information, such as the birth father’s location, serve the complaint, and then apply for genetic analysis. Genetic testing is conducted by collecting hair, etc. at a court-appointed institution.

Attorney Woo said, “Depending on the results of the test, a decision may be made to establish a biological relationship between the child and the biological father.” He added, “In a case where a person applied for designation as a caregiver at the same time as filing a lawsuit for recognition, the biological mother, who is a foreigner, was designated as the person with parental authority and caregiver. “There are precedents that specify it,” he said.

It was expected that Mr. A would also be able to claim child support from Mr. B. Attorney Woo explained, “Article 860 of the Civil Code stipulates that ‘recognition’ takes effect retroactively at the time of the child’s birth,” and “reimbursement of past child support expenses can be claimed to a considerable extent.”

Reporter Park Yoon-hee [email protected]

[ⓒ 세계일보 & Segye.com, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]