Busan man sentenced to prison for failing to pay child support in first for city
Published: 07 Apr. 2026, 16:45
![The flag of the Busan High Court in Busan [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/07/220b4d7b-161a-4290-ba81-afaca754255a.jpg)
The flag of the Busan High Court in Busan [YONHAP]
A man who repeatedly refused to pay child support has been sentenced to prison.
The suspect was handed a four-month sentence by the Busan District Court on Sunday for violating the law on securing and supporting child support payments.
The court did not immediately take the man into custody, considering that he reached a settlement, giving him a chance to repay the overdue amount.
The man, after divorcing in 2017, did not pay the child support recommended by the court. The court had sent a recommendation to pay 500,000 won ($330) a month in child support for each of his two children until they reached adulthood, under the Act on Enforcing and Supporting Child Support Payment.
He was also ordered to repay 11 million won in unpaid child support in monthly installments of 1 million won in 2020, but he ignored that as well.
He was put on trial for failing to pay child support for more than a year without a justifiable reason, even after an order that he be temporarily detained by authorities was handed down in 2021.
“The nature of the offense is serious as paying child support is essential to ensuring a stable environment for underage children, yet he failed to do so,” the court said. “Even taking his financial difficulties into account, he cannot evade responsibility,” it added, stressing the need for stern punishment.
This was the first case in Busan in which a defendant received a prison sentence for failing to pay child support. The judiciary has recently been moving to toughen punishment, viewing unpaid child support as a serious crime that infringes on a child’s right to life.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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