I hid my father's body in the freezer and filed for divorce...Can we have a retrial?

[Anchor]
YTN has been reporting continuously on the case of his son hiding his father's body in a freezer for more than a year.

However, it is shocking to find out that his son died of his father's death and filed for divorce.

Let's talk in detail with Shin Gwi-hye, a reporter from the Ministry of Social Affairs.

It's shocking that the divorce lawsuit proceeded even when my father died.

[Reporter]
The report confirmed that the deceased father filed for divorce against his spouse and A's stepmother, B, while he was alive, and that the trial was still underway at the time of his death.

After his father filed for divorce against B in 2022, B also filed a counter-suit, asking him to split his property.Mr.

B claimed KRW 3.3 billion in assets, and Mr. A's total assets were estimated to be KRW 6.9 billion at the time.

However, the first trial court did not accept B's claim to share the property and ruled for divorce.

After that, he went up to the Supreme Court through an appeal trial, and the Supreme Court confirmed the first trial's ruling in April.

However, it is estimated that the father died in September last year.

As the appeals trial for divorce began around this time, the divorce lawsuit was actually conducted against the body for more than half a year.

Mr. B, who was filing for divorce from his husband, could not hide his embarrassment, saying that he had heard from other family members that his husband had been found in the freezer while he was dead.

In particular, during the divorce lawsuit, son A said he would arrange a meeting with his father and canceled it several times.

I'll listen to it myself.

[Mr. B/Mr. A's stepmother: The second trial was scheduled for September and October last year. [My son said he'd let me meet my father, and I promised him 3 times, but he was beaten up]

[Anchor]
After his father died, the son continued to file for his divorce without informing him of his death, what background do you presume is behind him?

[Reporter]
Earlier, when he turned himself in saying that he hid his father's body in a freezer, his son A told the police that he could not immediately reveal his father's death due to property problems.

Suspicions have been detected that his father's ongoing divorce suit was involved at the time.

According to civil law, spouses by law inherit 1.5 times more inheritance than their children.

However, in the case of divorce, his son A will inherit most of the estimated 6.9 billion won in inheritance.

Therefore, it is inferred that this situation may have affected the process of filing for divorce by hiding the body of his father.

[Anchor]
By the way, this is the first time a verdict has been confirmed against a body, how was this possible?

[Reporter]
The reason why this was possible is in the current domestic litigation system.

Although Article 7 of the Domestic Litigation Act stipulates the principle of self-attendance, it is possible to proceed with the trial if the legal representative, that is, a lawyer, is present, even if you are not necessarily yourself.

The role of the agent was important, but the lawyer who represented his father was not aware of the death of his client until the reporters contacted him.

[Anchor]
What is the position of the Supreme Court?

[Reporter]
Regarding the divorce of the body of the freezer, the Supreme Court said that it is correct that the ruling was confirmed without knowing the death of the person concerned, and that a retrial is expected.

The Supreme Court issued a statement today (11th) explaining that the party to the lawsuit is believed to have died during the appeal stage, and that the court cannot ex officio eliminate the effect of the ruling and that the spouse will have to request a retrial.

He then stressed that while the system is expected to be improved in a way that makes sure the parties come out at the time of the ruling, revising all relevant legal provisions needs to be approached carefully.

The Supreme Court also said that under the current domestic litigation law, divorce proceedings cannot be carried out only when the person is present, adding that the court does not have the authority to confirm the survival of the parties one by one.