It has been confirmed that North Korea emphasized that engagement is a moral promise, not a legal act, through the legal common sense article “Is engagement a legal act?”
According to the North Korean legal knowledge “Is Engagement a Legal Act,” obtained by NK Times last year, North Korea defines engagement as “an agreement between parties who promise to marry in the future.”
In addition, it is specified that “legal acts refer to legal acts that are aimed at creating, changing, or extinguishing certain legal rights and obligations and are given corresponding legal effects.”
In North Korean society, engagement is an important cultural and social phenomenon that goes beyond the realm of a simple promise, so engagement is considered a moral act rather than a legal act, which emphasizes the traditional values deeply entrenched in North Korea’s legal system and social structure. It appears that
North Korea then explained in the document that “engagement is not a legal act, but a moral act,” and “the engagement does not give the engaged parties a legal obligation to unconditionally marry in the future, and no kinship relationship arises between their blood relatives.” did.
However, it was emphasized that although the engagement parties have a social and moral obligation to marry in the future, it does not require a certain legal form of responsibility because it is not a legal act. Although there is no legal binding force on engagement in North Korea, this can be read as an attempt to emphasize the importance of the promise of engagement and marriage by imposing a strong social and moral obligation on the parties.
In addition, North Korea said through data, “If a man and a woman who have reached the age of adulthood agree to marry in the future, an engagement is established,” and “However, engagements between spouses, double engagements, or engagements between close relatives are not socially acceptable.” “No,” he emphasized.
Engagement aims at marriage, and the conditions for establishing marriage must be met. In other words, in North Korean society, engagement is a common phenomenon that naturally leads to marriage and is widely recognized by members of society. In this context, although it is not legally binding, the promise of an engagement predicated on marriage is interpreted as a traditional North Korean value and cultural phenomenon that emphasizes social and moral obligations.
This engagement practice in North Korea must be understood in a legal and cultural context that is different from that of South Korea. In South Korea, although an engagement is not legally binding, there are legal mechanisms such as the ability to claim psychological damages when an engagement is broken. This can be said to show how the legal systems and cultural values of the North and South differ.
In relation to this, a source from NK Tammes in Hamgyeongbuk-do said on the 20th, “In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of young people who got engaged and then broke off the engagement, or who live together without going through the engagement or marriage process.” He added, “As this phenomenon of social disorganization increases, the authorities are taking measures to prevent it.” “As a means of control, legal knowledge books, which were only available to members of legal institutions, were given to residents,” he said.
He added, “Common sense about the law is literally just common sense,” and added, “Because our country (North Korea) is a world where even innocent people become criminals depending on the decisions of the authorities, most residents have no interest in the law.”
Previously, this newspaper obtained and reported on the North Korean book “Our Life and Family Legal Counseling” in December last year.
***This article was translated by Google, so the content may differ from the Korean article.
