Crackdown on child support scams

[Anchor]

Since the implementation of the 'advance payment system for child support', where the government pays child support to single-parent families first and later recovers it from the debtor, there have been numerous cases of 'trick payments' by debtors.

This was a method to send only a very small amount of child support to evade recovery, and to prevent this, the government has introduced improvements.

Park Min-kyung reports.

[Report]

This woman in her 30s applied for advance payment of child support last month but was disqualified due to not meeting the requirements.

She had received 500,000 won from her ex-husband over the past three months.

Despite being far from the required child support amount, the debtor used a trick to avoid being subject to government recovery.

[A/Single-parent family/voice altered: "When he made a trick payment and my application was rejected, I honestly felt very hopeless, and it was frustrating to be deprived of government support because of him..."]

Under the current system, if a debtor has received any amount of child support in the last three months, they are excluded from the advance payment eligibility.

However, starting next month, if the child support sent by the debtor is less than an average of 200,000 won per child per month over the last three months, they can apply for advance payment from the government.

[A/Single-parent family/voice altered: "I will apply again. If I meet the criteria, I will be able to receive support, and I have hope that I can send my children to the academy they want."]

The trick of sending only a small amount of child support while not fulfilling obligations will no longer work.

[Lee Yoon-ah/Director of Family Support Division, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family: "With the support for advance payment of child support now available even for cases of partial small payments that are difficult to secure stable child support, it will help create a stable child-rearing environment for single-parent families."]

The government has imposed a total of 226 sanctions, including travel bans, suspension of driver's licenses, and public disclosure of the names of 200 individuals who have not fulfilled their child support obligations.

The average amount of child support debt for these individuals was about 52 million won, with the highest amount reaching 320 million won.

KBS News, Park Min-kyung.