A system called divorce deliberation will be introduced next year. It offers an opportunity for a married couple to rethink the matter of divorce for one to three months before they get divorced and equally share all joint assets.

The government held a cabinet council with President Roh Moo-hyun at Cheongwadea, the Korean presidential mansion, in the morning of October 31 and voted for revised bills including civil law and domestic legal proceedings. According to the contents, when a husband and wife get divorced their assets should be equally divided, in principle, to resolve problems like the domestic contribution of a fulltime housewife that is not reflected in property division.

Moreover, with introduction of the divorce deliberation system, the law will allow divorce in different conditions. When the contracting parties in a divorce have children to bring up, they have a three month restriction to complete divorce proceedings. For a couple who do not have children, there is a one month restriction after checking a decision made by a domestic relations court. In circumstances like a divorce by agreement, a husband and wife should reach an agreement at any cost towards the rearing of children and terms. One could request separation of assets to the partner while they are still married if there is a proper reason.

This revised bill will have legal force from the second half of next year.

In addition, the Presidential Commission on Sustainable Development confirmed and announced "Strategies and performance of plans for national sustainable development" (2006~2010). It contains 48 assignments which need to be settled to improve national strength and maintenance for the next five years.

Points that strongly stand out include constructing friendly environmental production and consuming structures, and creating an economic society of acclimatized resources in the economic field. To protect the nation’s health from various harmful factors, the social safety net needs to be expanded for alienated brackets like women, poor people in city and others, and environmental pollution should be contained in the social field.

입력시간: 2006. 11.01. 08:24