Law Firm Jonjae Managing Attorney Noh Jong-eon  |  National Assembly Press Conference

Hello. This is Law Firm Jonjae.

After the Goo Hara Act was automatically discarded at the final plenary session of the 20th National Assembly, Goo Ho-in, the older brother of the late Goo Hara, and Attorney Noh Jong-eon of Law Firm Jonjae held a press conference together with Democratic Party lawmakers Seo Young-gyo and Song Gi-heon, urging passage of the Goo Hara Act in the 21st National Assembly.

The achievement of reaching 100,000 signatures on the public petition for the Goo Hara Act was a success shared by all citizens who sympathized with and supported the purpose of this law.

The people the law failed to protect — Why the Goo Hara Act is needed

Under the current Civil Act, grounds for disqualification from inheritance apply only in extremely limited cases, such as killing a family member or forging a will. Even if someone has long neglected their duty to raise a child, if the child dies before the parent, the child's property is inherited by the parent who abandoned them.

Attorney Noh Jong-eon specifically pointed out the results of this structural problem at the press conference. He explained that in the cases of the 2010 Cheonanham incident and the 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster, compensation for the fallen servicemen and young students who tragically lost their lives did not actually reach the people who raised them, but was instead passed on unchanged to the parents who had abandoned their children long before, something our society could only watch happen.

"Why not just use a will or the contribution share system?"

Attorney Noh Jong-eon rebutted, point by point, the opposing arguments against the Goo Hara Act. Regarding the claim that it can be solved through a will, he pointed out that the deceased are often mostly young children or students who die from completely unforeseen accidents. Expecting a young child to have already made a will excluding a parent who abandoned their duty to raise them from inheriting is unrealistic.

He also analyzed that the limitations of the contribution share system are clear. Courts take a very strict stance in recognizing contribution shares, and even if one parent gave up their duty of child-rearing so the other parent handled everything, the courts at the time, following the prevailing precedent, viewed this as the "parent's natural duty" and did not recognize it as a special contribution.

"May Hara's name change our society"

Goo Ho-in said at the press conference that day that he spoke about his childhood with his younger sister, Goo Hara. His birth mother ran away when Goo Hara was 9 years old, and they lost contact for about 20 years. Their father traveled all over the country to earn a living, and the siblings grew up relying on each other under the care of their grandmother and aunt.

Goo Ho-in said that even if the Goo Hara Act is enacted, he knows it will not apply to his own inheritance division case under the principle against retroactive legislation. Nevertheless, the reason he is pursuing the legislative petition is to prevent tragedies like those his family and Hara's family experienced from happening again in our society. "Like the name Goo Hara, it is the heart to save many people who have lived sad lives like our family," he said.

And the Goo Hara Act finally became reality

The press conference was held in 2020, shortly after the dissolution of the 20th National Assembly. Later, after being discarded again in the 21st National Assembly, the Goo Hara Act (a partial amendment to the Civil Act) passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on August 28, 2024, in the 22nd National Assembly. 284 in favor, 0 against, 2 abstentions. It took six years from the legislative petition to passage in the plenary session.

The revised Civil Act Article 1004-2 stipulates that the court may forfeit the inheritance rights of a lineal ascendant who has seriously violated their duty of support, and it has been in effect since January 1, 2026. The "inheritance system that conforms to universal justice and common sense" that Attorney Noh Jong-eon appealed for at the press conference has finally found its place in the law.

*Law Firm Jonjae makes it its principle not to limit cases to conflicts between individuals, but to address the structural problems of law and institutions together as well.