Unwed fathers could already register their children’s births

The main accomplishment of the amended Korean family register law, from the perspective of unwed moms and other single parents, is that it protects everyone’s privacy. You can click here to read about that. 

The following parts of the law, regarding who is responsible for reporting the birth of a child, is also of interest to adoptees.

The parts below have not changed at all; they were like this before:

Article 46 (Person Responsible for Filing Report)

(1) The report of birth of a child born within wedlock shall be filed by the father or by the mother.

(2) The report of birth of a child born out of wedlock shall be filed by the mother.

(3) In cases where the person to file a report pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2) is unable to file such report, the persons falling under any of the following subparagraphs shall file the report in the order under the following subparagraphs:

1. Relatives living together;

2. Doctor, midwife or any other person involved in the delivery.

제46조(신고의무자)

① 혼인 중 출생자의 출생의 신고는 부 또는 모가 하여야 한다.

② 혼인 외 출생자의 신고는 모가 하여야 한다.

③ 제1항 및 제2항에 따라 신고를 하여야 할 사람이 신고를 할 수 없는 경우에는 다음 각 호의 어느 하나에 해당하는 사람이 각 호의 순위에 따라 신고를 하여야 한다.

1. 동거하는 친족

2. 분만에 관여한 의사ㆍ조산사 또는 그 밖의 사람

Article 47 (Cases where Lawsuit for Denial of Paternity is Raised)

Even when a lawsuit for the denial of paternity is raised, the report of birth shall be filed.

제47조(친생부인의 소를 제기한 때)

친생부인의 소를 제기한 때에도 출생신고를 하여야 한다.

Article 48 (Cases where Court Determines Fatherhood)

(1) In cases where the court is to determine the father of a child in accordance with Article 845 of the Civil Act, the report of birth shall be filed by the mother.

(2) Article 46 (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis to cases under paragraph (1).

제48조(법원이 부를 정하는 때)

① 「민법」 제845조에 따라 법원이 부(부)를 정하여야 할 때에는 출생의 신고는 모가 하여야 한다.

② 제46조제3항은 제1항의 경우에 준용한다.

Article 52 (Abandoned Children)

(1) A person who has found an abandoned child or a national police official who has received a notice of found abandoned child, he/she shall notify the head of the Si/Eup/Myeon concerned of the fact within twenty four hours.

(2) The head of the Si/Eup/Myeon concerned who has received the notice referred to in paragraph (1) shall enter details of the child’s belongings, the place where the child was found, date found, other circumstances, sex and estimated date of birth in the record. In this case, such record shall be considered as a report.

(3) The head of the Si/Eup/Myeon concerned shall, after establishing a new surname and origin of surname of the abandoned child in accordance with Article 781 (4) of the Civil Act, determine the child’s name and original domicile and record them in the register.

제52조(기아)

① 기아(기아)를 발견한 사람 또는 기아발견의 통지를 받은 국가경찰공무원은 24시간 이내에 그 사실을 시ㆍ읍ㆍ면의 장에게 통보하여야 한다.

② 제1항의 통보를 받은 시ㆍ읍ㆍ면의 장은 소지품, 발견장소, 발견연월일시, 그 밖의 상황, 성별, 출생의 추정연월일을 조서에 기재하여야 한다. 이 경우 그 조서를 신고서로 본다.

③ 시ㆍ읍ㆍ면의 장은 「민법」 제781조제4항에 따라 기아의 성과 본을 창설한 후 이름과 등록기준지를 정하여 등록부에 기록하여야 한다.

Article 57 (Recognition by Report of Birth)

In cases where the father of a child born out of wedlock has filed a report of birth, the report shall be recognized. duty of the unwed mom. However, dads can and could also register if they want to, apparently. I can only check the law on the website back to 2007, but Article 57 is there in 2007. 

제57조(친생자출생의 신고에 의한 인지)

부가 혼인 외의 자녀에 대하여 친생자출생의 신고를 한 때에는 그 신고는 인지의 효력이 있다.

Below is the newly amended part that pertains to unwed fathers. (Everything above is the same as before. I will give my own very rough translation of just the basic idea; corrections are welcome!)

제57조(친생자출생의 신고에 의한 인지) ① 부가 혼인 외의 자녀에 대하여 친생자출생의 신고를 한 때에는 그 신고는 인지의 효력이 있다. <개정 2015.5.18.>

Article 57 (Recognition by Report of Birth) ① In cases where the father of a child born out of wedlock has filed a report of birth, the report shall be recognized.)  [This just states what was there already, so I think that what was actually amended are these completely new paragraphs established in May.]

② 모의 성명·등록기준지 및 주민등록번호를 알 수 없는 경우에는 부의 등록기준지 또는 주소지를 관할하는 가정법원의 확인을 받아 제1항에 따른 신고를 할 수 있다. <신설 2015.5.18.>

② In cases where the mothers’ name, record, and citizen ID number cannot be known, the birth can be reported according to Paragraph 1 the father’s record and with the confirmation of the family court in the jurisdiction of his address.

③ 가정법원은 제2항에 따른 확인을 위하여 필요한 사항을 직권으로 조사할 수 있고, 지방자치단체, 국가경찰관서 및 행정기관이나 그 밖의 단체 또는 개인에게 필요한 사항을 보고하게 하거나 자료의 제출을 요구할 수 있다. <신설 2015.5.18.>

③ In order for the family court to confirm paternity per Paragraph 2, they have official authority to get the needed particulars, and local autonomous entities, the national police, and administrative agencies, etc. such as organizations can request needed materials to be submitted in order to make a report.

④ 다음 각 호의 어느 하나에 해당하는 경우에는 신고의무자가 1개월 이내에 출생의 신고를 하고 등록부의 정정을 신청하여야 한다. 이 경우 시·읍·면의 장이 확인하여야 한다. <신설 2015.5.18.>

④ The following persons who are bound in duty to give the notification out of goodwill have to apply for a correction of the register within one month for the report of birth. In this case, the mayor of the city, county, or village has to confirm.

1. 출생자가 제3자로부터 「민법」 제844조의 친생자 추정을 받고 있음이 밝혀진 경우

1. In the case where it’s discovered that they have to guess whose baby it is,  Civil Code Article 844 is followed.

2. 그 밖에 대법원규칙으로 정하는 사유에 해당하는 경우

2. Outside of that, in cases where the relevant grounds are determined by the Supreme Court.

⑤ 확인절차 및 신고에 필요한 사항은 대법원규칙으로 정한다. <신설 2015.5.18.>

The procedure to confirm and what is needed in order to report the birth are decided by the Supreme Court regulations.

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Since you are probably curious about what Civil Code Article 844 is:

Presumption as Husband’s Child

(1) A child conceived by a wife during the marriage shall be presumed to be the child of the wife’s husband.

(2) A child born after two hundred days from the day when the marriage was formed or born within three hundred days from the day when the matrimonial relation was terminated, shall be presumed to have been conceived during the marriage.

The English/Korean text, which was last amended in 2013, can be found on this link.

For the newest revisions of the law in Korean only, you can visit this link.