Statutes of the Republic of Korea

Article 1 (Purpose)

The purpose of this Decree is to prescribe matters mandated by the Special Act on Crisis Pregnancy and Protected Childbirth Support and Child Protection and matters necessary for the enforcement thereof.

Article 2 (Scope of local counseling agencies)

"Organization or institution meeting the qualification requirements prescribed by Presidential Decree" in Article 6 (2) of the Special Act on Crisis Pregnancy and Protected Childbirth and Child Protection (hereinafter referred to as the "Act") means any of the following organizations or institutions, each of which has at least 3 years of experience in providing counseling and support related to pregnancy, childbirth, rearing, or child protection:

1.	A single-parent family welfare facility under Article 19 (1) of the Single-Parent Family Support Act;

2.	A social welfare corporation under Article 16 of the Social Welfare Services Act;

3.

Any other nonprofit corporation recognized by the Minister of Health and Welfare or by the Special Metropolitan City Mayor, a Metropolitan City Mayor, a Special Self-Governing City Mayor, a Special Self-Governing City Mayor, a Do Governor, or a Special Self-Governing Province Governor (hereinafter referred to as "Mayor/Do Governor"), as being capable of providing counseling and support related to pregnancy, childbirth, rearing, or child protection to pregnant women or nursing mothers in crisis.

Article 3 (Application for protected childbirth by guardians)

(1)

If a pregnant woman in crisis under subparagraph 1 of Article 2 of the Act (hereinafter referred to as " pregnant woman in crisis") falls under any of the following subparagraphs under the former part of Article 9 (2) of the Act, her guardian may submit an application under Article 9 (1) of the Act:

1.	A person under adult guardianship;

2.	A person under 14 years of age;

3.	Any other person deemed by the Mayor/Do Governor to lack sufficient capacity to make autonomous decisions, following deliberation by the Guardian Application Review Committee under paragraph (2) (hereinafter referred to as the "Guardian Application Review Committee").

(2)	To deliberate on whether a pregnant woman in crisis falls under paragraph (1) 3, the Mayor/Do Governor may establish a Guardian Application Review Committee composed of at least 5 members in consideration of gender balance.

(3)	The members of the Guardian Application Review Committee shall be appointed or commissioned by the Mayor/Do Governor from among the following persons; in such cases, at least 1 person falling under each of subparagraphs 1 through 4 shall be included:

1.	The head of a local counseling agency designated under Article 6 (2) of the Act (hereinafter referred to as "local counseling agency");

2.	A psychiatrist;

3.	A person qualified as a judge, public prosecutor, or attorney-at-law;

4.	A director-general-level public official in charge of affairs related to pregnant women and nursing mothers in crisis in the Special Metropolitan City, a Metropolitan City, a Special Self-Governing City, a Do, or a Special Self-Governing Province;

5.	Other persons with extensive expertise and experience in fields related to human psychology, social welfare, or education.

Article 4 (De-identification of information on pregnant women in crisis)

The head of a local counseling agency shall enter the following information into the information system under Article 18 of the Act in accordance with the former part of Article 9 (3) of the Act; provided, information about the biological father that cannot be verified directly or through the applicant under Article 9 (3) of the Act (hereinafter referred to as "applicant") due to grounds referred to in the subparagraphs of Article 6 may be omitted:

1.	The applicant’s computerized management number (referring to the computerized management number assigned by the head of a livelihood security agency under Article 7-2 (1) 4 of the Act on the Use and Provision of Social Security Benefits and Search for Eligible Beneficiaries);

2.	The names, places of family origin, places of registration, and resident registration numbers (applicable only to Korean nationals) of both the applicant and his or her biological father;

3.	The child’s gender, number, and date and time of birth;

4.	The child's name, if provided by the applicant;

5.	The name and resident registration number of the guardian, if the guardian applies for protected childbirth under Article 9 (2) of the Act;

6.	Other matters deemed necessary by the Minister of Health and Welfare for the support and protection of the applicant.

Article 5 (Electronic notification of birth)

The Minister of Health and Welfare shall establish standardized processing procedures for electronically notifying births under the latter parts of Article 11 (3) and (4) of the Act.

Article 6 (Omitted information on birth certificate)

"Reasons prescribed by Presidential Decree, such as unknown whereabouts" in the proviso, with the exception of the subparagraphs, of Article 15 (1) of the Act means the following circumstances:

1.	Where the biological father’s whereabouts are unknown;

2.	Where the biological father cannot be identified;

3.	Where the biological father refuses to confirm paternity;

4.	Other unavoidable reasons determined by the Minister of Health and Welfare, such as cases where the biological father poses a threat to the safety of the pregnant woman or nursing mother in crisis, her fetus, or child.

Article 7 (Disclosure of birth certificates)

(1)

A person who intends to request the disclosure of a birth certificate under Article 17 (1) of the Act may submit a written or oral application to the head of the National Center for the Rights of the Child under Article 10-2 of the Child Welfare Act (hereinafter referred to as the "National Center for the Rights of the Child"), as prescribed by Decree of the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

(2)

Upon receiving a request for verification from the head of the National Center for the Rights of the Child under the latter part of Article 17 (2) of the Act, the applicant or the biological father shall notify the head of the National Center for the Rights of the Child, within 14 days from the date of receipt of such request, of whether he or she consents to the disclosure of personal information contained in the birth certificate as prescribed by Decree of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. In such cases, failure to provide consent within the prescribed period shall be deemed to be a refusal to consent.

(3)

If necessary for verifying whether the applicant or his or her biological father has given consent under Article 17 (2) of the Act, the head of the National Center for the Rights of the Child may request the head of a relevant agency in charge of the relevant computer networks or data related to resident registration, family relationship registration, and immigration, to verify the location, etc. of the applicant or the biological father.

(4)

"Special circumstances prescribed by Presidential Decree such as medical purposes of a person born through protected childbirth" in Article 17 (3) of the Act means cases where the Minister of Health and Welfare deems the disclosure of the birth certificate necessary for the significant benefits to the life and health of the person born through protected childbirth, including for purposes such as diagnosis and medical treatment.

(5)

When disclosing a birth certificate under Article 17 (2) and (3) of the Act, the head of the National Center for the Rights of the Child shall do by the following methods; in such cases, if a person who has requested the disclosure of a birth certificate under paragraph (1) of that Article requests the disclosure thereof in electronic form, the head of the National Center for the Rights of the Child shall convert the information into an electronic format and disclose such information accordingly, unless the nature of such information may be compromised by such conversion:

1.	Allowing the perusal of documents or providing copied thereof;

2.	In cases where the information is held in electronic form, allowing perusal, providing printouts, or storing duplicated documents on a medium and providing them, or transmitting them by e-mail.

Article 8 (Establishment and operation of information system for supporting crisis pregnancy, etc.)

(1)

If necessary to efficiently establish and operate the information system under Article 18 (1) of the Act (hereinafter referred to as “information system for supporting crisis pregnancy, etc.”), the Minister of Health and Welfare may interlink and utilize the information system for supporting crisis pregnancy, etc. with the following information systems; in such cases, matters necessary for the procedures for such interlinkage and the processing of linked information shall be determined by the Minister of Health and Welfare:

1.	The social services information system under Article 24-2 (1) of the Act on the Use and Provision of Social Security Benefits and Search for Eligible Beneficiaries;

2.	The social security information system under Article 37 (2) of the Framework Act on Social Security;

3.	The information system of the National Health Insurance Service under Article 13 of the National Health Insurance Act related to the calculation of co-payments and the filing of claims for medical care benefit costs, etc.;

4.	The information systems of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service referred to in Article 62 of the National Health Insurance Act related to the safe use of medicines and the review and assessment of health care benefit costs, etc.

(2)

In accordance with Article 18 (3) of the Act, the Minister of Health and Welfare, the central counseling support agency, and local counseling agencies designated under Article 6 (1) of the Act may handle information on health under Article 23 of the Personal Information Protection Act and data containing resident registration numbers under subparagraph 1 of Article 19 of the Enforcement Decree of that Act for the following affairs:

1.	Conducting fact-finding surveys under Article 4 (1) and (2) of the Act;

2.	Providing counseling on crisis pregnancy, childbirth, etc. under Article 7 (2) and (3) of the Act;

3.	Providing protection and support for prenatal and postnatal care for pregnant women or nursing mothers in crisis under Article 8 of the Act;

4.	Handling applications for protected childbirth under Article 9 (1) and (2) of the Act;

5.	Performing de-identification and utilizing de-identified information under Articles 9 (3) and 10 (1) of the Act;

6.	Notifying birth under Articles 11 and 14 (4) of the Act;

7.	Processing withdrawal of applications under Article 13 (4) of the Act;

8.	Handling applications for protection of children after childbirth under Article 14 (4) and (5) of the Act;

9.	Preparing birth certificates under Article 15 of the Act;

10.	Transferring and permanently preserving birth certificates under Article 16 of the Act;

11.	Establishing, operating, and utilizing the information system for supporting crisis pregnancy, etc. under Article 18 (1) of the Act;

12.	Recovering expenses under Article 20 (1) of the Act.

Article 9 (Methods and procedures for recovery of expenses)

(1)

If the Minister of Health and Welfare intends to recover expenses under Article 20 (1) and (2) of the Act, he or she shall issue a written notice of payment to the person who has received subsidies, specifying the reasons for recovery, the amount to be recovered, the payment deadline, the receiving agency, etc. In such cases, the payment deadline shall be at least 30 days from the date the notice of payment is issued.

(2)	Upon receiving the recovered amount, the receiving agency referred to in paragraph (1) shall, without delay, notify the Minister of Health and Welfare of the details thereof.

(3)	Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2), matters necessary for the recovery of expenses shall be determined by the Minister of Health and Welfare.

Article 10 (Standards for administrative dispositions)

The standards for administrative dispositions against the central or local counseling support agencies under Article 22 (1) of the Act shall be as specified in the Appendix.

Article 11 (Delegation of authority)

The Minister of Health and Welfare shall delegate the following authorities to Mayors/Do Governors under Article 24 of the Act:

1.	Recovery of operating expenses of a local counseling support agency under Article 20 (2) of the Act;

2.	Revocation of designation, or suspension of business, of a local counseling support agency under Article 22 (1) of the Act.

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ENFORCEMENT DECREE OF THE SPECIAL ACT ON CRISIS PREGNANCY AND PROTECTED CHILDBIRTH SUPPORT AND CHILD PROTECTION