hankyoreh

The hojuje ("head of household system") will finally be abolished. On February 3 the Constitutional Court declared civil law clauses based on the hojuje were unconstitutional, and now the bill to revise civil law that was first introduced at the National Assembly in September has passed on the main floor. Follow-up measures are to be completed by the end of 2007, and the revision will take effect in 2008.

As law, the hojuje went against the times for placing more importance on the maintenance of the patrilineal blood line than on the happiness of the members of a family. You can see that even without the Constitutional Court's decision declaring it violates the constitution, which stipulates gender equality and the dignity of the individual. It is surprising that it took a whole half a century to fix the problem. It has been opposed since it was first announced in 1953, and at the time it required you get permission from your hoju ("head of household") for marriage, adoption, or establishing your own nuclear family. The new civil code was revised first in 1958 and minor changes were made in 1962, 1977, and 1990, but the hojuje, the root problem of it all, had to wait until 2005 to be abolished.

There has been much tedious and exhausting debate over the years, but the abolishment of the hojuje is landmark accomplishment that is progress in our society's democratization. Now people will have their own "identity registration papers" instead of a hojeok ("family record") that list a head of household and the family members attached to him. The priority will be on the family's welfare, and the children of a woman who remarries will be allowed to assume their new father's surname with permission from family court.

What remains to be done is adequately finishing up the necessary follow-up measures. The basic direction has already been determined, but the 261 laws that are related to it in one way or another are waiting to be fixed as well. Questions that need rational decisions include whether bonjeoks (legal places of permanent registration) should be maintained or not and how much record of a child's adoption should be maintained. Many issues needed detailed examination and decision. The basis on which they should be decided must be how much something contributes to the people's freedom, equality, and happiness, and whether it protects the dignity of the individual.

The Hankyoreh, 3 March 2005.


[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]