South Korea’s ‘Diverse Families’ Protection Measures Explained

KUALA LUMPUR, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 —

Registering a marriage in South Korea could soon come with a 1 million won government payment, roughly $700.

On September 1, the Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF), which supervises family welfare policy, proposed the payment as part of a record 2.12 trillion won budget for next year. The budget would also extend its courtesy to single parents and single households. For partners whose future is not bound by conventional marriage, receiving support as individuals or as parents does not necessarily mean their relationship is recognized as a family bond.

Legal recognition still matters, for example when one member of an unmarried couple seeks benefits through a partner or needs protection for money they have put into a shared home. A proposal to recognize such non-traditional relationships is already before the National Assembly. Its lead sponsor, Yong Hye-in of the small Basic Income Party, was nominated to lead the ministry but withdrew on September 13.

In June 2026, the MOGEF outlined a five-year family policy plan that included revising laws and institutions to accommodate “diverse family forms.” The budget proposals give some indication of what that would mean in practice. The proposed flagship welfare program, “Family for All,” reaches past vulnerable families. Through local family centers, people living alone would get practical guidance on housing, safety, care, and similar matters.

A separate allowance would assist eligible unmarried pregnant women during their final three months of pregnancy. Widening the pool of who receives support does not require changing the legal definition of family. South Korea’s Framework Act on Healthy Families defines family as consisting of marriage, blood ties, or adoption. Recognizing a relationship between two unmarried adults raises a separate question, as specific rights are governed by laws governing housing, insurance, and other benefits.

This matters all the more as the number of nontraditional families has more than doubled since 2015. Without legal recognition, rights and shared obligations fall through the cracks. Housing is one such example. Two people may jointly pay the large upfront deposit for a rental home, even though only one of them is named on the lease.

A 2025 study by the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements identified weak protection for the other person’s contributions in such cases, and difficulties in taking over the tenancy when the named tenant dies. It also found restrictions on access to public housing support.

On health, qualifying opposite-sex couples living as spouses already had access to dependent coverage under national health insurance when the Supreme Court ruled in July 2024 that denying it to a same-sex partner was discriminatory. Being unmarried does not mean having no protection, but the protection available remains uneven because it differs by relationship and benefit. Yong reintroduced the life partnership bill on September 3, 2025, after first filing it in 2023.

It applies to two consenting adults who provide mutual care, including same-sex couples. Under the bill’s provisions, partners would register jointly with a family court. Registration would create shared responsibility for household debts and grant rights to social insurance, maternity leave, and tax treatment as a couple. They could also request a property division through a formal legal procedure when the relationship ends. Registered partnerships could also factor into South Korea’s response to low fertility.

Marriage remains closely tied to childbearing, as only 5.5 percent of births occurred outside marriage in 2025, compared with an OECD average of 43 percent. France’s civil solidarity pact, or PACS, introduced in 1999, showed that legal recognition outside marriage, combined with parental support, can make parenthood more feasible for unmarried couples. Similar protections could reduce some barriers to having children in South Korea.

Legal recognition of unmarried partners is politically fraught in South Korea because it is routinely entangled with same-sex marriage. South Korea does not currently recognize either. In 2022, under President Lee Jae-myung’s predecessor, Yoon Suk-yeol, the gender ministry defended the existing definition of family.

It emphasized practical support for households while saying broader legal recognition would require “social consensus.” In 2023, conservative Christian organizations called for the life partnership bill’s withdrawal, opposing what they saw as a step toward legalizing same-sex marriage. The justice minister at the time similarly characterized it as effectively legalizing same-sex marriage and said national consensus was lacking. Lee’s administration has acknowledged the issue, up to a point.

In September 2025, his chief of staff requested a review of support for nonmarital childbirth. He described existing benefits as focused on preventing discrimination against children because of their parents’ marital status, while acknowledging calls to recognize cohabiting families. The meeting did not discuss the partnership bill, nor did it endorse any particular form of legal recognition for adults.

According to the official legislative record, the Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee took up Yong’s life partnership bill on July 27, 2026 and referred it to a subcommittee. The bill is under review. Co-sponsors from several parties have signed on, including Lee’s Democratic Party, which holds a majority in the National Assembly.

Had Yong taken office as the family minister, she could have advocated for the recognition of civil partnerships within the ministry responsible for the five-year family policy plan. Her withdrawal ended that opportunity. The ministry cannot pass a partnership law on its own, but it can state which protections it is prepared to pursue with other agencies.

For partners who have paid into a shared home, recovering a deposit or remaining in the unit after one partner dies are immediate, practical concerns. With the bill’s sponsor now out of contention for the ministerial post, the question is what the ministry intends to do to ensure those arrangements are more reliably protected.

Related: Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) · Yong Hye-in