Cross-border divorces needed for North Korean defectors trying to start over
With a growing number of North Korea defectors trying to restart their life here, many face legal obstacles surrounding previous marriages in North Korea. "When I reported my new marriage here to the authorities, they would not endorse it, saying that I have to first file for divorce from my previous marriage," a North Korean defector said on condition of anonymity. "But, since I filed for divorce with a local court in August 2004, there has been no news from the court about my previous marriage." He is not alone. As of Tuesday, a total of 207 cases of marriage-related lawsuits have been filed with South Korea's family court, all people seeking to leave behind marriages in the North and restart a family in the South.Most cases. however, are moving slowly, as local courts generally do not allow for cross-border divorces, citing the inability to confirm the intention of the spouse in the country that they left behind. Resolving this predicament is the focus of a revised National Assembly bill designed to facilitate their settlement here. The bill is still in deliberation in the assembly. The local family court said that the divorce process for the defectors will take some time as it is complicated to deliver necessary documentation for the cross-border divorce to the North Korean authorities. "We know their predicament, but we have no choice but to suspend those pending cases as there is no legal ground [to endorse their new marriage]," a judge in the family court said. A group of lawmakers, led by the ruling Uri Party's Kim Hak-won and Lee Hwa-young, independently initiated bills that would facilitate the marriage and divorce processes for North Koreans who defected in 2004 and 2005, respectively. The revised bills are designed to allow North Korea defectors to file for divorce with the South Korean court by receiving confirmation from the Ministry of Unification.
