North Koreans Can Inherit But There’s a Catch

In a first for the South Korea Supreme Court, four NorthKorean siblings won a paternity suit recognizing them as the children of aSouth Korean doctor with the right to inherit his 3.2 billion won estate.  However, according to the Special Law onInheritance, “North Korean residents can claim their assets in the South onlyif they defect from the country or when the two Koreas become reunified.”

Effective since May 2012, the law seeks to ensure assetswill be given to North Korean residents instead of the regime, according to theMinistry of Justice.  The siblings claimthe law violates the Constitution recognizing North Korean people as citizensof the Republic of Korea. 

The doctor, surnamed Yun, crossed the border with his oldestdaughter during the Korean War, leaving behind his wife and four children.  He married a South Korean woman and had fourmore children.  His North Koreanchildren’s inheritance will be held under the management of a court-appointedlawyer.

See Kim Jae-won, NK Siblings Unable to Get Inheritances,The Korea Times, Aug. 1, 2013.