This woman has absolutely no shame. If anything she should be forced to pay child support to her two kids, not take their money:
I watched as Kyung-hwan’s eyes reddened with rage as the judge read out the ruling last month at a court in Daegu. His birth mother, who recently recovered parental rights over him and his two younger brothers, was ruled ineligible to claim the insurance left behind by his dad, her ex-husband, for the time being.
She was told to wait until a separate trial determines whether or not she could continue being the legal parent over the three boys.
After the father died last September in a car accident, his sons were to receive 600 million won ($548,400), but all three boys were underage, meaning they couldn’t claim the cash without a legal guardian.
Their mother, who left them six years ago and divorced their dad, returned several months ago to tell them she had gained parental rights over them. It was the first time in six years that the boys had ever seen her. They later heard she called the insurance company asking how much her ex-husband had left behind. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read the rest at the link, but according to the article the kids hired a lawyer to stop their mom from claiming the life insurance money left by their father after his death.
If you are traveling to Korea for work, the government has now implemented a three month waiting period to qualify for health insurance:
Foreigners entering Korea for employment purposes will have to wait three months to get health insurance, as will overseas Koreans.
In the past, foreigners and overseas Koreans could register for health insurance on the first day they entered the country, but from Oct. 1 they will have to wait.
The Health Ministry says the relevant law has been amended to prevent people from entering country under false pretenses to enjoy health insurance benefits and leave soon afterward. [Chosun Ilbo]
You can read more at the link.
For some people thinking of moving to Korea this health insurance change needs to be something to be aware of:
The government will strengthen national health insurance eligibility requirements for overseas Koreans and foreigners beginning in October to prevent abuse of the system.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday that it will enact revisions to ordinances so that overseas Koreans and foreigners who enter the country for work will only be eligible to enroll in national health insurance after a three-month stay.
However, those who enter the country for study, marriage or other purposes that make it clear that they are going to stay in the country for more than three months may continue to immediately join the health insurance. [KBS World Radio]
You can read more at the link.
Via a reader tip comes this story about a man in Korea trying to commit insurance fraud by running at a car and bashing his head into the windshield. Unfortunately for him the driver had a dashcam installed:
When he reaches the car, he leaps onto the hood in a superhero-esque dive and bashes his head into the windscreen.
The glass smashes and the man collapses onto the road.
It appears the opportunist was attempting to get some sort of payout for his efforts, earning him the label of an ‘insurance scammer’ in the video description.
The bizarre act was caught on a video camera mounted on the dashboard of the car.
Insurance fraud is a growing problem in South Korea. According to a recent study from the Insurance Research Centre, an average of 156 people are caught in car insurance fraud schemes in South Korea every day, with the amount of money involved totalling KRW1.18 trillion (AU$1.8 billion) over the last five years. [Daily Mail]
You can read more and see the video of this incident at the link. According to this Insurance Research Center link on average 156 people are caught a day trying to commit insurance fraud in South Korea. For those driving in South Korea it appears installing a dashcam is a good idea.
