Legal counsel for North Korean defectors

A North Korean woman defected from her country alone leaving her husband behind. In China, she married an ethnic Korean after purchasing a citizenship. Later, she made her way to South Korea and tried to invite her husband in China to South Korea. However, neither she nor anyone around her knew whether she has to divorce her husband in North Korea or her marriage in China is legally effective here in the South.

In the mean time, she was able to get legal counsel from a website named “Unification and Law” (unilaw.go.kr). She learned that she needs to register her husband in North Korea as husband, divorce him legally at a Family Court, and marry her husband in China in the form of international marriage.

The Justice Ministry launched Tuesday the website containing a database of legal information related to inter-Korean relations and unification. Like the case mentioned earlier, North Korean defectors can get legal counsel about various issues, including family registration, marriage, divorce, and immigration. A section is dedicated to questions regarding assets of North Korean defectors.

Companies participate in inter-Korean economic cooperation can also get legal advice on how to address problems occur in North Korea, such as visiting and staying in the North and issues surrounding real estate and tax. A South Korean worker at the Kaesong Inter-Korean Industrial Complex hit a North Korean worker while driving and feared greatly whether he would be punished in North Korea. After consulting the website, however, the South Korean worker could be finally relieved knowing that he might be subject to some administrative penalties such as warnings or fines in the communist regime, trials regarding the incident will be held in South Korea.

People can easily search information of some 10,000 study materials by entering theme, key word or content at the website of "Unification and Law."