''Hoju'' () or ''hojuje'' () is a

family register Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events (births, marriages, and deaths) of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database has different names in different countries and even in differe ...

system formerly employed in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. The register itself is referred to as the ''hojeok'' (). The system remained in effect in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

until approximately 1955 and in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

until 2008. It was similar to other family registries used in East Asia, such as the Chinese

hukou ''Hukou'' ( zh, c=户口, l=household individual) is a system of household registration used in the People's Republic of China. The system itself is more properly called ''huji'' ( zh, c=户籍, l=household origin), and has origins in Histo ...

and the Japanese

koseki A or family register is a Japanese family register, family registry. Japanese law requires all Japanese households to make notifications of their vital records (such as births, adoptions, deaths, marriages and divorces) to their local Municipa ...

. Although the ''hoju'' system with its specific focus on registering families under a head of household is no longer in use, both North and South Korea continue to maintain family registers. The first iteration of the ''hoju'' system was the system of the late

Korean Empire The Korean Empire, officially the Empire of Korea or Imperial Korea, was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by King Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire lasted until the Japanese annexation of Korea in August 1910. Dur ...

, adopted in 1909. ''Hojeok'' came into use under Japanese rule in 1922. This system remained in force in South Korea until 1960, when it was replaced by the country's own ''Hojeok'' Act. The limited information on North Korean family registration law indicates that North Korea likely abolished this system in 1955 under the Regulation on Citizen Identity Registration () adopted in that year. By the 21st century, North Korean reference works used the terms ''hojeok'' and ''hoju'' only in a historical sense, and North Korean refugees reported that although births and changes in family relations were required to be reported to the government there was no comparable public registry. In the 21st century the ''hoju'' system came under criticism in South Korea. Opponents considered it innately patriarchal and a violation of the right to

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

. It was opposed by both feminists and by representatives of religious traditions including

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. Conservative groups led by the National Action Campaign opposed abolishing the system, in part on the grounds that doing so would follow North Korea's example. On 3 February 2005 the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

held that the ''hoju'' system was incompatible with the guarantees of Article 36 Paragraph 1 of the

Constitution of South Korea The Constitution of the Republic of Korea () is the supreme law of South Korea. It was promulgated on July 17, 1948, and last revised on October 29, 1987. Background The Provisional Charter of Korea The preamble of the Constitution of Sou ...

. The ''hoju'' system was replaced by the modern Family Relations Register through a reform of the Civil Code of South Korea in 2008.

Works cited

References

{{reflist East Asian family registers Law of South Korea Law of North Korea zh:戶