INTRODUCTION

Every day family law issues appear in the news and in cases. What is new this year in Korean Family law? In the year 2017, Koreans saw some substantial activities in both legislation and interpretation of the law. Family law reflects the trend of the times, as is very important and desirable.

Most of all, family law of the twenty-first century regards children's best interests as one of the highest values. The Korean Civil Code (Minbeop, KCC) was amended for child welfare in two areas of family law in 2017. One limits the previously recognised paternity presumption in determining the father of the child born after divorce, by introducing an easy and speedy procedure for establishing the child-father relationship through the court's permission after genetic testing. The other is an extension of visitation rights to the grandparents for the child's best interests, reflecting today's phenomenon that the number of grandparents directly responsible for childcare has been rising sharply due to the increase in double-income families.

Surprisingly, in August 2017, Korean society reached an aged society, which meant that the population over 65 years old exceeded 14 per cent of the total population. Ageing has caused many legal issues, such as the problem of adult guardianship and testamentary capacity. On the other hand, the development of and dependence on medicine is producing the social problem called lifesustaining-treatment, for the maintenance of life rather than for the recovery of biological function. After two well-known cases, in fact based on the same patient, were released in 2009, legislation creating new rights in favour of patients in end-of-life situations was adopted in 2016 after a long debate in the Korean Parliament. It entered into force on 4 February 2018.

More recently, as the voice of sexual minorities grows, the legal status of transsexuals and whether to admit same-sex marriage have become very hot issues. However, Korean society, which combines Confucian tradition, Christian culture and a mandatory military system, has been reluctant to accept the difference of sexual minorities and accept them as members of society. Nowadays, the wind of change is slowly blowing through local courts, though some of the rulings have been a little disappointing..