Family Law of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (2009)
AGLC4 | 가족법 2009 [Family Law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (2009)] [tr Daye Gang].
Bluebook | Gajokbeob 2009 [Family Law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (2009)] translated in Law and North Korea by Daye Gang, https://www.lawandnorthkorea.com/.
Adopted on October 24, Juche 79 (1990), as Decision No. 5 of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on September 23, Juche 82 (1993), as Decision No. 35 of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on December 7, Juche 93 (2004), as Directive No. 808 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on March 20, Juche 96 (2007), as Directive No. 2161 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on December 15, Juche 98 (2009), as Directive No. 520 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
CHAPTER I. BASICS OF FAMILY LAW
Article 1 (Objectives of Family Law)
The Family Law of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea shall consolidate and develop socialist marriage and family systems and serve to make all society a harmonious and united large socialist family.
Article 2 (Principle of protecting marriage)
Marriage is the foundation of forming a home. The State shall protect marriage by law.
Article 3 (Principle of consolidating the family)
The family is the basic unit of social life in society. The State shall grant great benefits for consolidating the family.
Article 4 (Principle of protecting citizens who do not have legal capacity)
Assuring the dignity and rights of humans is the natural requirement of a socialist system that considers people to be the most precious. The State shall protect the rights and interests of citizens who do not have legal capacity through the guardianship system.
Article 5 (Principle of guaranteeing the right of inheritance)
Inheritance is the continuation of legal protection for individual property. The State shall guarantee the right of inheritance over individual property.
Article 6 (Principle of protecting children and mothers)
Especially protecting the interests of children and mothers is the consistent measures of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The State shall turn prerequisite attention to assuring conditions for mothers to soundly nurture and educate children.
Article 7 (Subjects of regulation of the Family Law)
This law shall regulate socialist marital relationships and personal and property relationships between family and relatives.
CHAPTER II. MARRIAGE
Article 8 (Free marriage and monogamy)
Citizens have the right to free marriage. Marriage may be done only between one man and one woman.
Article 9 (Age of marriage)
Marriage in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is allowed from 18 years for men and from 17 years for women. The State encourages a societal ethos that young people will marry after working worthily for the nation, the people, the society and the group.
Article 10 (Degree of kinship for marriage)
Blood relatives to eight degrees of kinship and relatives by marriage, or relatives formerly by marriage, to four degrees of kinship may not marry.
Article 11 (Marriage registration)
Marriage shall only be accepted by law and receive the protection of the State if registered with the identity registration institution. Married life is not allowed without marriage registration.
Article 12 (Marriage registration for citizens living overseas)
The marriage registration of citizens of the Republic living in other countries shall be done at a consular institution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and in cases where there is no consular institution, it may be done at the relevant institution of that country.
Article 13 (Nullity of marriage)
Marriages that violate Articles 8 to 10 of this law are null. The recognition of nullity of a marriage shall be done by a court.
Article 14 (Nurturing children in a nullified marriage)
A marriage recognized as null shall be taken as not having been realized at all. However, the issue of nurturing children shall be resolved by relying upon Articles 22 and 23 of this law.
CHAPTER III. THE FAMILY
Article 15 (Consolidation of the family)
Consolidating the family is an important guarantee for the sound development of society. Citizens shall harmoniously and brightly manage the family.
Article 16 (Establishment of a husband and wife relationship)
A husband and wife relationship shall be realized upon marriage.
Article 17 (Particulars of husbands’ and wives’ free activity)
Husbands and wives shall keep their surname and name as they are, choose jobs according to their wishes and abilities, and may participate in societal and political life.
Article 18 (Right of equality between husband and wife)
Husbands and wives have the same rights in family life.
Article 19 (Duty to support of spouse)
Husbands and wives have the duty to support spouses that have lost the ability to work.
Article 20 (Dissolution of husband and wife relationship)
The relationship of a husband and wife disappears if they divorce. Divorces may only be done according to court proceedings. Divorce judgments have legal effect from the time they are determined up to three months.
Article 21 (Divorce condition)
In cases where a spouse has betrayed the love and trust of a married couple to the extreme, or in cases where married life cannot continue for another reason, they may divorce.
Article 22 (Decision of party raising children upon divorce)
In cases where the husband and wife divorce, the party who will raise the children shall be determined from the perspective of the interests of the children and shall be determined by agreement between the parties. In agreement where agreement cannot be reached, the court shall make a determination. If there is no inevitable reason not to, children less than 3 years of age shall be raised by the mother.
Article 23 (Child support expenses)
The party who is not raising the children must pay child support expenses to the party raising the children until they reach working age. However, in cases where the party raising the children says that he or she will not receive child support expenses, they may not be paid. Child support expenses shall be determined by the court within the scope of 10~30% of monthly income according to the number of children.
Article 24 (Child support expenses exemption application)
In cases where the party who was paying the child support expenses has lost the ability to work, or where the party who was raising the children has remarried and the children receive the support of the stepfather or stepmother, an interested party may request the court to exempt the payment of child support expenses.
Article 25 (Relationship between parents and children)
The relationship of parents and children is a relationship of blood ties. The relationship of parents and children has legal effect from the time of registration with the identity registration institution. The relationship between children born between a man and a woman who are not in married life and their parents are the same as the relationship between children born in the process of married life and their parents.
Article 26 (Surname of children)
Children shall follow the surname of their father. In cases where the surname of the father cannot be followed, the surname of the mother shall be followed, and the surname of children whose parents are unknown shall be determined by the resident administration institution.
Article 27 (Duty to educate children)
The education of children is the important duty of parents. Parents must educate children well and raise them into independent humans who are knowledgeable, morally sound and physically healthy.
Article 28 (Legal representation of minor children)
Parents shall raise children and shall be the legal representative of minor children. Children shall love and respect parents, and must take responsibility for the standard of life of parents who have lost their labour capacity and look after them.
Article 29 (Relationship between step-parents and step-children)
The relationship of step-parents and step-children are the same as the relationship of biological parents and biological children. When a relationship of a stepfather or stepmother and the step-children is realized, the relationship between the step-children and the biological father or the biological mother disappears.
Article 30 (Right of adoption)
Citizens may adopt the minor children of different people. A person who has been deprived of the right to vote, a person who has an illness which can harm the health of their adopted children, and a person who has no ability to give their adopted children childcare or education may not adopt.
Article 31 (Consent to adopt)
Citizens who wish to adopt must receive consent for that adoption from the biological parents or guardian of the children to be adopted. In cases where the adopted children are more than 6 years old, his or her consent must also be received.
Article 32 (Registration of adoption)
An adoption is realized when the approval of the resident administration institution is received upon the application of the person to become the adoptive parents, and this is registered with the identity registration institution.
Article 33 (Relationship between adoptive parents and adoptive children)
The relationship between adoptive parents and adoptive children is the same as the relationship between biological parents and biological children. When the relationship between the adoptive parents and the adoptive children are realized, the relationship with the parents before adoption disappears.
Article 34 (Dissolution of adoption)
Dissolution of adoption is realized if the adoptive children and the adoptive parents or the biological parents or guardian of the adoptive children agree and this is registered with the identity registration institution with the approval of the relevant resident administration institution. In cases where agreement is not realized about the dissolution of adoption, the court shall resolve it.
Article 35 (Relationship between grandparents and grandchildren)
Grandparents shall nurture and educate grandchildren without parents so that they grow soundly. Grandchildren who have reached adult age must take responsibility for and look after the health and standard of life of grandparents who do not have children.
Article 36 (Sibling relationship)
Siblings must love, respect and lead each other as flesh and blood. Siblings with the ability to support have the duty to support siblings who have no one to look after them
Article 37 (Support of minors, and people who do not have labour capacity)
Minors and people who have no ability to work shall be supported by a member of the family who has the ability to support. In cases where there is no member of the family with the ability to support, parents or children who are living separately shall support them, and in cases where there is no such person, grandparents, grandchildren, or sibling relationships shall support them.
Article 38 (Subjects of support of the State)
Minors and people with no ability to work pointed out in Article 37 of this law shall be looked after by the State.
Article 39 (Property division)
In cases where a member of the family separates out because of divorce or another reason, individual property that was brought in when coming into the family, or received as inheritance or a gift, or has other individual nature, shall be kept by each individual, and family property acquired to jointly use in a household shall be divided and kept by agreement between the parties. In cases where agreement cannot be realized, the court shall resolve it.
CHAPTER IV. GUARDIANSHIP
Article 40 (Selection conditions for guardians)
A guardian shall be determined for minors who are not able to receive the care of parents and people who do not have legal capacity because of a bodily defect.
Article 41 (Qualifications of guardians)
Guardians for minors may be grandparents or sibling relationships. Guardians for people who do not have legal capacity because of a bodily defect can be a spouse, a parent, or children, grandparents or grandchildren, or sibling relationships. In cases where there are several people who can be a guardian, the person accepted as the most appropriate to perform the duties of guardianship shall be the guardian.
Article 42 (Selection of a guardian by resident administration institution)
In cases where there is a dispute in selecting a guardian or there is no guardian pointed out under Article 41 of this law for a minor or a person who does not have legal capacity because of a bodily defect, the resident administration institution shall determine a guardian.
Article 43 (Rights of guardians)
A guardian shall manage the property of a person under guardianship and shall be his or her legal representative.
Article 44 (Duties of guardian)
A guardian shall provide childcare or education to a person under guardianship and must look after his or her standard of life and health.
Article 45 (Supervision of performance of guardianship duties)
The work of supervising the performance of guardianship duties shall be done by the resident administration institution.
CHAPTER V. INHERITANCE
Article 46 (Order of inheritance)
When a citizen dies, his or her property shall be bequeathed to his or her spouse, children, and parents. In cases where there is no spouse, children, or parents, it shall be bequeathed to the grandchildren and grandparents, or to sibling relationships. In cases where there is no heir as pointed out in the foregoing paragraph, it shall be bequeathed by order of ranking of close relatives.
Article 47 (Portion of inheritance)
In cases where there are several heirs of the same ranking, the portions to be allocated to them shall be the same. In cases where some of the heirs have abandoned their inheritance, the portion allocated to him or her shall be bequeathed to the other heirs.
Article 48 (Deprivation of right of inheritance)
Even if there is an heir provided for by law, if he or she exceedingly abused the deceased in life or consciously did not look after him or her, or if he or she intentionally created the conditions for inheritance, the right of inheritance shall not be given.
Article 49 (Inheritance in cases where a person with a right of inheritance has died)
In cases where a person with a right of inheritance dies before the person who gives the inheritance, his or her children shall take over the order of inheritance of the deceased.
Article 50 (Inheritance by will)
Citizens may bequeath their property by will. However, in cases where the will violates the interests of the citizens who were receiving the support of the testator, it is null. The recognition of nullity of a will shall be resolved by a court upon the application of an interested party or a Public Prosecutor.
Article 51 (Responsibility for debts of the deceased)
A person who has received an inheritance shall take responsibility for the debt of the deceased within the scope of the property inherited.
Article 52 (Inheritance period)
Citizens must approve or abandon their inheritance within 6 months. In cases where a person with a right of inheritance does not appear within 6 months or the right of inheritance is wholly abandoned, that property shall be put into State coffers. In cases where an heir has not appeared, a court may approve the inheritance or prolong the abandonment time limit by a further 6 months by a finding upon the application of an interested party.
Article 53 (Resolution of inheritance disputes)
Disputes related to inheritance shall be resolved by a court.
CHAPTER VI. SANCTIONS
Article 54 (Administrative or criminal responsibility)
An individual citizen who has violated this law shall have administrative or criminal responsibility imposed depending on the gravity. The interrogation of administrative or criminal responsibility shall be done by a finding or judgment of a court.
Last updated 4 June 2021
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