A Korean father does not have to pay for his son’s college education in the United States, a local judge ruled Monday.



The son sued his father for tuition and living expenses at a private college in the US, which is worth 140 million won ($124,000) for two academic years.



However, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision that the father is not liable for the tuition and living expenses of his adult son.



Court officials said a parent’s duty to support his or her child gets attenuated after the child has become a legal adult, unless the child is in extreme distress.



The court also said that the huge sum of study abroad expenses does not fall within the scope of regular living expenses, for which the father is not liable.



The rationale of the son’s claim was that young adults these days are increasingly in need of parent’s support. He also made reference to previous cases in other countries in which the parents’ duty to support their adult children was lawfully acknowledged.





(123RF)



(mjk625@heraldcorp.com)