North Korea, similar to many countries, has requirements to initiate a divorce proceeding. Just as many U.S. states have requirements before filing for divorce, North Korea has its requirements too. Frustrated by the number of divorces, the Supreme Leader of North Korea has just added a new requirement: any couple that divorces will now be sent to labor camps.

Your North Korean Divorce

Kim Jong Un, at 42 years of age, is North Korea’s “Supreme Leader”. He is also the “general secretary of the Worker’s Party”, and the “marshal of the Korean People’s Army”. Kim Jong Un follows in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps and rules the socialist paradise of North Korea.

As “Comrade General Secretary”, Kim Jong Un recently declared that dissolving your marriage demonstrates anti-socialist sympathies, which therefore warrants punishment. This declaration from the “Marshal of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” represents a toughening of existing divorce laws, which previously only punished the party seeking the divorce — even in cases of physical abuse.

The “Sun of Juche’s” new divorce law, in an effort to protect the family structure, requires that spouses be imprisoned once the divorce is finalized. As one resident of the northern Ryanggang province reportedly said:

“I went to the Kimjongsuk County People’s Court … where 12 people received divorce decrees. Immediately after the verdict, they were transferred to the county labor training camp. Until last year, when a couple divorced, only the person who first filed for divorce was sent to a labor training camp. Starting this month, all divorced couples will be sent to labor training camps.”

According to Kim Jon Un, who is sometimes known as the “Only and Unique Successor and Leader of the Juche Revolution”, the act of divorce is not only considered an affront to socialism, but also to the Confucian values that tie into the thinking of those in the north and south.

Florida Divorce Requirements

I have written on divorce jurisdiction issues, such as residency and other requirements to obtain a divorce, many times before. Similar to North Korea, Florida has its own requirements to obtain a divorce. For example, Florida has a six-month residency requirement before filing for divorce.

Durational residency – as a pre-condition to divorce – has been considered by many courts and upheld as a valid requirement. The Supreme Court of the United States has consistently recognized the unique status of marriage and has left the entire field of marriage and divorce laws to the individual states.

Florida has a compelling state interest in requiring a durational residency so that Florida avoids intruding on the rights and interests of other states that might otherwise be paramount. There is another important reason.

Domicile of a divorcing party is essential, not merely because of technical jurisdictional rules, but because a divorce can be obtained ex parte, by constructive service of process which can have permanent future effect on the lives and property of third persons as well as the rights of sister states.

Accordingly, U.S. states must go slow, must be careful, and owe a duty to other states and other affected parties to make a record in support of a divorce final judgment that can withstand collateral attack and which will merit full faith and credit by other states.

Stigmatizing Divorce

The foundation of North Korean-style socialism, with its emphasis on the people and the masses, depends on whether family cells are managed effectively. That’s why – to North Korea’s “Brilliant Comrade” – divorce is considered an abnormal event and the breakup of the family.

Broken families are classified as social problems, and the children of these families often do not get along with other children and suffer various forms of discrimination, such as not being called on in school.

The socialist party’s firmly held position is that revolutionizing the family is equivalent to revolutionizing society and that improving the members of the family is equivalent to improving members of society. As a result, government officials who are divorced are considered to have failed to revolutionize their family, and are often unable to rise in rank or hold important positions.

Notwithstanding the “Beloved Father’s” efforts, reports from North Korea show divorce rates increased on the back of the Covid-19 lockdown. Initially, the “Father Marshal” started an education campaign to prevent, specifically women, from getting divorces.

To prevent divorces, lectures were given to members of the Socialist Women’s Union, the largest women’s organization in the country, under the theme:

“Let’s thoroughly eliminate the phenomenon of divorce and build a harmonious family, the cell of society.”

When that didn’t work, the “Supreme Leader of our Party, State and Armed Forces” tried other deterrents. The most obvious deterrents, publicly shaming the parents of divorcees, and publicly shaming the officials of  state owned companies responsible for high divorce rates among the workforce, were applied.

Surprisingly, given the socialist party’s campaign and other deterrents, divorces did not significantly decrease. So, the “Respected Comrade Supreme Leader” had no real choice but to act even more punitively by sending divorcing couples to forced labor camps. As one resident is reported to have said:

My brother divorced after three years of marriage. His wife first submitted a divorce application to the court and received a divorce ruling. She was sent to a labor camp for six months, while he has to do one month.

The London Evening Standard article is here.