Court Accepts Inheritance Claim by North Koreans
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A South Korean court accepted a petition Thursday from a North Korean family seeking to prevent the South Korean spouse of their deceased father from selling off property she inherited after his death.
The Seoul Central District Court said it had accepted the suit, jointly filed by four North Korean children earlier this week, claiming part of the real estate, valued at 10 billion won ($6.6 million), that was left behind by their late father identified as Yoon, who passed away in Seoul in 1987.
Yoon came to the South during the Korean War (1950-53), leaving his first wife and four of their five children behind in the North. He remarried here and had four more children.
The decision forbade Yoon's wife here from disposing of property until it was decided whether Yoon's North Korean children have any legal claim to the inheritance.
An unnamed member of a civic group, who frequently visits the North for relief activities, filed the suit on the plaintiffs' behalf, the court said.
The North Koreans submitted fingernail clippings and hair for DNA tests, along with their North Korean citizenship records, to prove their biological connection with their late father, it added.
South Korean law allows the same legal rights to North Koreans as South Koreans.