Gov't to allow birth registration for children of undocumented foreigners

Justice Minister Park Beom-kye speaks with experts during a video conference of the ministry's policy committee at his office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

Korea will seek to allow undocumented foreign nationals to register their children's births here in specific situations, to prevent them from being deprived of child-related rights and benefits.

Justice Minister Park Beom-kye discussed the issue in an online meeting with experts, Monday, to establish a special law to give such children legal status regardless of their parents' status.

Under the current law, foreign parents cannot register their children if they are not legally staying in Korea.

Some situations in which children cannot be registered here include: when a child is born after the parents have overstayed their visas or lost their legal status here; when a foreign woman came to Korea after marrying a Korean, then divorced, and gave birth to a child while staying here as an undocumented foreigner; and if a foreign woman gives birth to a child out of wedlock.

The number of children in Korea who could not be registered for such reasons is estimated to be as many as 20,000.

If the children are not registered, they are not able eligible to receive public social benefits including medical insurance and education. In some cases, the lack of legal status puts the children at risk of abuse and human trafficking.

In order to address the issue, the ministry has been discussing the matter with a special advisory group since 2018, and decided to establish a special law.

“These children have been put in a human rights blind spot,” Park said during the meeting. “We hope the new system will help protect the children from crimes such as abuse, illegal adoption and human trafficking, and help the government accumulate data for policy implementation, such as mandatory vaccinations and compulsory education.”