The Supreme Court has made its own proposal as an alternative to the hojuje ("head-of-the-household" system of family registries), which will soon be abolished. The court's idea is to have "individual registries" (irin iljeok je) instead. The revision to civil law that includes the abolishment of the hojuje was passed by the relevant subcommittee of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee before the end of last year, but the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) wanted to look at the alternative proposals first, however, so it was decided that the bill would only be put before the full committee and the main floor in February. The National Assembly then requested from the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice that they submit alternatives to the hojuje, and now the court has responded. We think the "individual registry" proposal would be the most rational and scientific choice.
The other suggestion that has been a lot of consideration is called the "basic family identification registration system" (gibbon gajok-byeol sinbun deungnok-je). Since it would treat parents and their unmarried children as the most basic unit, you might call it a hojeok (family register) for the era of the nuclear family. It is similar to the hojuje in that it identifies a member of the family for purpose of identifying the family in question. Japan went the same route when it got rid of its version of the hojuje after World War II. The reason, they say, was a lack of the funds that would be needed in going with a completely different system. It would also be complicated, since a new registry would have to be created every time a couple divorced or a child got married.
"Individual registries," however, would record an individual's birth, marriage, childbirth, adoption, divorce, and death. While at first that looks radically different from the existing system of registry maintenance, if you look at it carefully it makes sense as the natural and most scientific direction in which things must go. Since it would record spousal, parental, and child relationships without regard to marriage and divorce, one advantage is that it is more consistent about family relationships than the proposal about "basic family identification registration." Another advantage is that privacy would be protected as much as possible since complete written records (deungbon) would be maintained, but copies would only be viewable in family, identification, and marriage versions as required.
The hojuje is being abolished after a long period of controversy, so instead of going through a haphazard mid-way stage in the improvement process and use the "basic family identification registration," going straight to the rational and scientific choice that is the "individual registry" system would be best. We hope that reviewing the alternative proposals will not lead to a further delay, and that in February the hojuje would be abolished and a new scientific system would be adopted in its place.
The Hankyoreh, 11 January 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] 'Individual Registry' is the Right Choice |
