Bill proposed to punish undutiful offspring

By Lee Kyung-min

A long-standing controversy in Korean society is whether or not the state should punish ungrateful offspring who neglect or abuse their elderly parents after receiving their assets.

A top court ruling Sunday ordered a son to return assets he received from his father for failing to honor a written promise to take care of his parents after the assets were transferred.

Both the National Assembly and the Ministry of Justice have moved to revise related laws to provide better protection for senior citizens.

Rep. Min Byung-du of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy presented a bill in September that aims to allow parents to cancel the transfer of assets to their offspring if they “abuse or treat parents improperly.”

While the current law says parents cannot seek to retrieve assets once a transfer is complete, the proposed revision will allow for this. Moreover, the bill is seeking for financial reparations to be imposed on offspring if they already spent the assets.

The bill also seeks to allow law enforcement authorities to launch investigations into cases of alleged abuse of parents by offspring evenif the parents do not request such action to be taken. “It is because victims of such cases are reluctant to seek help from authorities both out of love for their children and shame as failed parents,” Min said.

The ministry’s civil law reform committee has also worked to revise the law.

Responses to the proposed measure are divided.

While supporters of the change say that the proposed legislation is necessary to prevent ungrateful and irresponsible offspring from neglecting their parents, opponents say that the government is overstepping the boundaries of individual morality and advancing the dissolution of family bonds.

Rep. Min claimed that inheritance is asset transfer, just like other forms of a civil contract, which is exchanged based on mutual trust and specific relations between the parties involved.

“Any party that does not faithfully hold up its end of the contract is in breach of trust, which in this case is between the parents and their offspring,” he said.

Similarly, Seoul National University Law School Professor Yune Jin-su said the current law does not punish those who fail to uphold their contractual obligations.

“The principal of reciprocity is the basis on which the legal contracts are maintained. In this case, the offspring, the beneficiaries of the contract, refusing to fulfill their duties is in an apparent breach,” he said.

However, Soongsil University Law School Professor Jeon Sam-hyun said the unbreakable bond between parents and their offspring are in danger of being irrevocably damaged.

“The government should take a cautious approach toward personal relationships involving no other than parents and their offspring. If the law is revised, instead of love, commitment, and trust, the relationship might be reduced to yet another contract,” he said.

“Resorting to legal measures would do more harm than good in protecting the value of family,” he added.