After a very promising update on its progress four months ago, the Goo Hara Act looked to be right on track to be passed at the National Assembly this year. Despite confusion yesterday after it got through the Legislation And Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support — brought on by K-pop sites yet again — today the law was finally actually passed in a National Assembly vote.
The revision to the Civil Code makes it so that parents who do not raise their children or parents who abuse their children forfeit inheritance rights, and it passed the National Assembly plenary session by a vote of 284 in favor, 0 against, and two abstentions.
The act will be implemented starting in January of 2026, applied retroactively to inheritances after April 25 when the Constitutional Court made its ruling that the previous provision was unconstitutional. Thus, it seems like the rep who proposed the act may have also accomplished her goal in some form, so congrats on that front as well.
Seo Young Kyo, the Representative who proposed the act, is pleased with the progress but is still fighting for changes. She points out that pushing implementation to 2026 instead of doing it six months after it passes (when it can be done) is a betrayal of the public’s will, so she’s trying to get that corrected. Regardless, the relief for me is that there seems to be optimism that this could actually be happening by the end of the month.
Goo Hara‘s brother, the one who has been fighting for this legislation for over four years now, has also acknowledged the passing of the bill on Instagram.
It’s really admirable what he’s done in memory of his sister and in the face of essentially being taken advantage of by his mother, as passing this act doesn’t do anything for him personally and thus he was basically just fighting so others don’t have to go through the same as him.
Congratulations.