ROK moves to keep inheritance assets out of DPRK

UPDATE 2 (2012-12-29): According to Yonhap:

The National Assembly on Thursday approved a bill that would protect North Korean residents’ rights to inherit assets from family members living in South Korea but also strictly limit the transfer of those assets out of the South.

The government-proposed special bill on family relationships and inheritance between residents of the two Koreas passed a full-floor legislative session, the Justice Ministry said.

There are three N/S Korean inheritance cases that have made it into the media recently. Read about them herehere and here.

Read the full story here:
Parliament approves bill on N. Koreans’ right to inherit assets in S. Korea
Yonhap
2012-12-29

UPDATE 1 (2011-8-30): Cabinet approves bill on N. Koreans’ right to inherit assets in ROK.  According to Yonhap:

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a bill that would protect North Korean residents’ rights to inherit assets from their families living in South Korea but also strictly limit the transfer of those assets out of the South, government officials said.

The government-proposed special bill on family relationships and inheritance between residents of the two Koreas will become law after obtaining parliamentary approval.

The move followed an unprecedented case last month involving four North Korean siblings who successfully claimed part of their late South Korean father’s multi-million dollar estate. A local court determined during mediation that their South Korean half-brothers and sisters must share the inheritance with their siblings from the North. More North Koreans are expected to follow suit.

The bill also requires North Korean inheritors to name a local manager for the assets within three months of inheritance and report changes in the property to the South Korean government.

The inheritors must get approval from the government if they want to take any inherited assets out of the country.

The strict restriction on the overseas transfers of the assets is aimed to ease mounting concerns that North Korean authorities could take advantage of the inheritance system, according to the Seoul government.

In addition, the bill included a provision recognizing double marriage by North Koreans who defected to the South after the inter-Korean division without divorcing their spouses in the North. Double marriage is otherwise banned under the South’s civil law.

Read the full story here:
Cabinet approves bill on N. Koreans’ right to inherit assets in S. Korea
Yonhap
2011-8-30

ORIGINAL POST (2011-8-11): According to KBS:

The Justice Ministry announced a revision to its special act on family relations and inheritance between South and North Koreans as the South Korean court recognized in January that North Korean residents have ownership rights to assets inherited from their families in the South.

The Justice Ministry has accordingly revised its preliminary notice legislation that it posted in January.

The revised version sets forth that the South Korean court designates a surrogate executor if a North Korean resident gains the right to assets in South Korea.

The earlier version required a relevant North Korean to designate a surrogate. However, the older version had been criticized as the executor of the estate could take the assets to a third country or to North Korea without the South Korean government’s permission.

Yonhap has more here.

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