By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The Ministry of Justice said Tuesday that a bill designed to enhance the authority of the judiciary over child custody was endorsed by the Cabinet and will be submitted to the National Assembly.
If approved, the court will have the right to assess probable candidates and determine who gets to take care of children whose parents are divorced if the parent with custody dies, the ministry said in a statement.
Under the current law, the surviving parent is automatically given custody.
The bill also bans custody of adopted children from immediately being given back to their biological parents if their new parents die and the adoption is nullified.
"In this case, the court will assess their biological parents as to whether they are eligible to take responsibility again," the ministry said.
The envisioned law makes it possible for a divorced parent with custody to stipulate in their will who they want to take care of their child should they die.
"All of these measures are part of state efforts to provide better lives to children in trouble," said Kwon Soon-jung, a ministry official.
The official said in advanced countries, including Germany and France, the court has played a crucial role in selecting a guardian for children without biological parents.
The need for a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's Parental Law was brought up long ago. But it gained impetus after the suicide of famous actress Cho Jin-sil in 2008, that left behind two children, aged four and six at the time.
Following her death, her ex-husband, Cho Sung-min, made it clear that he would take over custody of the children, using his status as the biological father.
In response, civic group members staged rallies to prevent Cho from taking them back, arguing he was only interested in the late actress's fortune, not childrearing. Her total wealth has been estimated at between $5 and $20 million.
A string of protests led to him giving up his right to take over the children's custody and control their inheritance.