북한이탈주민의 가족관계등록과중혼문제해소를 위한 법제도 개선방향 - 경기도 북한이탈주민 인식조사를 중심으로 -

Abstract

According to the Protection of Defecting North Korean Residents and Support of Their Settlement Law, “Defecting North Korean residents” mean persons who have their residence, lineal descendants, spouses and work places in North Korea and who have not acquired any foreign nationality after defecting from North Korea. The number of North Korean defectors to South Korea was not big before 1990s. However, after North Koreans suffer economic difficulties during late 1990s, the number of North Korean defectors exceeded 20,000 people. I think it is our responsibility to help North Korean defectors enjoy the rights of human beings and play an important role in reunifying Koreas. But it turns out that almost all of the North Korean defectors who live in South Korea have suffered a lot in many fields of their life. Especially, as more and more North Koreans defectors come to South Korea as family units or after already got they married in North Korea, family related issues from North Korean defectors are emerging. The purpose of this study is to review the problems for North Korean defectors have in the matter of existing marriage and divorce provisions related to the family law area, and to suggest solutions regarding present situation. To achieve this purpose, unlike the previous studies which focused on referring books, an empirical analysis was adopted in this study. As the part of the empirical analysis, a survey on North Korean defectors' perception on living environment in South Korea was conducted and after analyzing the survey, we reviewed how we can help North Koreans defectors effectively and what is a realistic measure to better the life of North Korean defectors in South Korea. The survey was done on 169 chosen North Korean defectors out of 4,891 North Korean defectors who lived in Gyeonggi Province as of late February of 2011 by the help of North Korean defectors Caring & Counseling Center after considering their characteristics of not revealing identities. The survey shows that North Korean defectors have a very strong desire to get married or marry again. Especially, more than 80 percentage people who are already married have an intention to get married again, but according to the South Korea's civil law of 810 article, committing bigamy is illegal. To have a new marriage life in Korea, North Korean defectors have to end the relationship legally first with the spouses who are left in North Korea. North Korean defectors have a very negative view toward the fact that they can divorce spouses who live in North Korea in South Korean courts, which is possible according to the Protection of Defecting North Korean Residents and Support of Their Settlement Law's Article 19-2. The prevailing view is that to have a divorce suit with spouses who don't live in Korea is a mere formality. North Korean defectors ask for the improvement of domestic relations register form which causes committing bigamy. Around 75.3% of North Korean defectors who conducted the survey think they must not be forced to write down about their or their spouses personal information and they can write them down on the domestic relations register only if they want to. However, if we consider the continuity of family status of North Korean defectors who fled to Korea as a family unit, it is desirable, as a rule, for North Korean defectors to write down requested information. But at the same time, to contain an exceptional clause should be needed. It is ascertained that the prejudice level by South Koreans toward North Korean defectors is serious through the survey. 77.9 % of respondents rated South Koreans prejudice toward them as serious or slight serious. So the survey shows that changing South Koreans attitudes toward North Korean defectors is necessary. Desirable direction which was drawn from the survey is that institutional complement is needed so that North Korean defectors who are in Korea don't have to suffer from the problems of bigamy. My judgement is that it will be very difficult for North Korean defectors who are not accustomed to Korean Law to accomplish the intended goal through trial. The suggestion I would like to bring up is to revise “family registration regulation 219” which causes the problems of bigamy and which was enacted by the Supreme Court. According to the regulation number 219 which was enacted by the Supreme Court on Dec 10, 2007 for the purpose of adapting to a family registration law, if spouses of North Korean defectors live in North Korea, then North Korean defectors must write down the reason for the marriage, name & date of birth, address of spouses and the reason why their spouses live in North Korea. It is worth examining the regulation number 219 if you want an exceptional clause to be contained in the regulation number 219. And the exceptional clause is - if the person directly involved doesn't want to maintain the marriage relationship with the spouse who live in North Korea, then they don't have to write down their spouses information. Next, tentatively named “a law covering family relations and inheritance between Residents of South and North Koreas” is being enacted, I hope the issues that my study dealt with, such as marriage and divorce related to the North Korean defectors, will be reviewed as forward-looking approaches. Lastly, it seems that we, South Koreans need to change perceptions to North Korean defectors so that North Korean defectors can take pride in becoming residents of South Korea and live a stable life and no more feel themselves as strangers. My judgement is that we, South Koreans need to change perceptions to North Korean defectors and by making up for weak points in the current system and current law, we can help them encounter less financial hardship.