13 1) Current status 52. According to the 2016 Statistics on Birth, 99.3% of children were born in hospitals. In 2017, the NHRCK recommended to the Minister of Justice to amend the related legislation to mandate a doctor and midwife involved in childbirth to report the birth to national institutions or public institutions. In response, the Minister of Justice replied that he would push ahead with the amendment after having sufficient discussion with medical institutions and relevant institutions. As for the procedure of birth registration, online report has become possible since May 2018. As of September 2018, birth of babies born in 45 hospitals in Korea can be registered online. Deliberately concealing a birth 53. Pursuant to the Act on the Registration, Etc. of Family Relationships, birth registration should be filed within one month from the date of birth. However, when the birth is not registered, only an administrative fine under KRW 50,000 can be charged. There is a case that a child born in 1999 had been neglected and excluded from educational or medical assistance for 18 years until found in 2017 because the child’s parents did not register the child’s birth. Birth Registration by Single Father 54. Single father has limited access to birth registration. After the amendment to the Act on the Registration, etc. of Family Relationships in 2015, single fathers are allowed to register birth. However, in principle, it is biological mother who has to register birth; hence when biological mother is identified, single father is not allowed to register birth. When the single father does not know personal information of the biological mother, he may register birth to the Family Court by submitting an application of ‘confirmation of birth of his own child’ with necessary documents including DNA test results. From the moment that the amendment went into effect in November 2015 to June 2017, 331 people have registered a birth through this process. In 2017, 144 applications for confirmation of birth were filed by single fathers, and only 108 applications were approved. 2) Questions 55. What would be the measure to register the birth of every child? 56. What would be the measure to enhance the birth registration by single father? Issue 20. Freedom of Expression, Association, and Peaceful Assembly 1) Current status