Mother's surname at birth? Bill aims to shift Korea's family-name deadline
A group of legislators of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) introduced a bill that would permit married couples to decide whether their child takes the mother’s surname at the time of birth registration, instead of at the time of their marriage registration. The amendment to Article 781 of the Civil Act, proposed last week by Rep. Park Ju-min and 14 other DPK lawmakers, would expand the…
A proposed bill in South Korea aims to change the family-name deadline for children born to married couples, shifting the focus from the father's surname to potentially the mother's. The legislation, introduced by 15 Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers, seeks to allow parents to decide a child's surname during either the marriage registration or the birth registration.
Currently, Korean law mandates that children primarily inherit their father's surname, with fathers and mothers agreeing to use the mother's surname only when registering their marriage, often before the possibility of having children. The bill maintains the traditional father-surname rule but provides parents with the flexibility to choose the child's surname at a later date, potentially eliminating the need for such decisions before the birth of the child.
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