Attorney Yang So-Young “Small miracles passed on from single-parent families… they give me the strength to keep doing this work” - 스포츠경향
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Attorney Yang So-Young, who founded Kanna Hope Supporters, a public-interest corporation under the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family that helps single-parent households who are not receiving child support, poses for a photo on the 10th before an interview with Sports Kyunghyang. The organization’s name was inspired by the ‘Canna Festival,’ which originated from a poor chimney sweep in the Cambridge area of the UK scattering canna flower seeds here and there until they filled the area. 2026.9.10. Jung Ji-yoon, Senior Reporter
“There was a family living in a semi-basement where the child could not sleep properly because of sunlight, but they received a Kanna grant and installed blinds; a family that began treatment for their child; a child who had been a loner due to lack of money was able to play soccer with friends for the first time and said they would run for class president; a family for whom it was the first trip with their child… all are stories relayed by single-parent households that received Kanna’s sponsorship. To me, they feel like small miracles. They give me the strength to keep doing this work (laughs).”
On the 10th at the Kyunghyang Shinmun building, attorney Yang So-Young (55, managing partner of Soongin Law Firm) brightened as she talked about Kanna Hope Supporters. Established by her in May 2022 as a public-interest corporation, the organization provides economic and emotional support to single-parent families who do not receive child support from their spouses, and also engages in related legislative work. It also runs a mentoring program in which mentors meet once a week to teach subjects such as math and science. On the evening of October 16, at Theater Hapjeong Dongyang Life Hall in Mapo-gu, Seoul, it will hold the ‘2026 Kanna Hope Concert.’ This will be the second Kanna Hope Concert, following the October 2023 stage graced by ‘C’est Si Bon’ artists Cho Young-nam, Yoon Hyung-joo, and Kim Se-hwan.
“About four years ago, soprano Park Sung-hee posted a request for help in a group chat with acquaintances. She said there were children in an orphanage she taught vocal music to who wanted to go to college, and asked for assistance. As it happened, I had a friend who could serve as an English teacher, so I connected them with the children right away. Next month’s Kanna Hope Concert will celebrate the college admission of two of those children this year, except for the one who is now a senior in high school.”
On the evening of October 16, at Hapjeong Dongyang Life Hall in Mapo-gu, Seoul, Kanna Hope Supporters will hold the ‘2026 Kanna Hope Concert,’ bringing together single-parent families and sponsors. This will be the second Kanna Hope Concert, following the October 2023 stage graced by ‘C’est Si Bon’ artists Cho Young-nam, Yoon Hyung-joo, and Kim Se-hwan. The photo shows C’est Si Bon on stage in 2003. / Courtesy of Kanna Hope Supporters
Attorney Yang specializes in divorce and inheritance. After appearing on KBS <Morning Yard> in 2007 at the recommendation of the Seoul Bar Association president, she began frequenting broadcast programs and established herself as a ‘star attorney.’ The first broadcast topic in 2007 was child support. Perhaps by fate, she has devoted herself in recent years to resolving the child support issues of single-parent families.
“While preparing for the 2015 ‘Supreme Court public hearing on a culpable spouse’s divorce petition,’ I felt in my bones the brutality of the reality of unpaid child support. At the time, I represented the defendant opposing the introduction of the ‘breakdown principle’ that would allow a culpable spouse to file for divorce, advocating instead to maintain the ‘fault-based system.’ It was a period when the nonpayment rate for child support reached 90%. In such a reality, introducing the breakdown principle without countermeasures could severely threaten children’s right to survival. I asserted this point actively in court and secured a victory. The ruling maintained the existing ‘fault-based system’ and rejected the breakdown principle.”
She said, “Feeling I had to do something, in 2018 I opened the Soongin Child Support Enforcement Support Center at Soongin Law Firm and began offering free legal counseling.” Not long after, the so-called ‘Bad Fathers case’ occurred.
“While on air, I saw a report that the operator of the Bad Fathers website, which disclosed the faces and identities of child support delinquents, had been accused of defamation. I reached out to Mr. Gu Bon-chang, the operator, and offered to help through a public-interest defense. After an acquittal at first instance and a stay of execution at the appellate level, the Supreme Court also issued a stay of execution, so he was not substantively punished. This case became a catalyst for public debate in our society on the seriousness of unpaid child support. It made clear that child support is not merely a monetary claim but a child’s right to survival.”
Spurred by this case, a legal basis was created for the government to directly sanction and compel child support delinquents (an amendment to the Child Support Enforcement Act). Playing a leading role in drafting the amendment, Yang in April 2019 launched the ‘Kanna Hope Fund,’ the forerunner of the public-interest corporation. She selected six single-parent households struggling due to unpaid child support and provided each with 500,000 won per month. With the establishment of the nonprofit incorporated association Kanna Hope Supporters in May 2022, she was able to embark on more full-fledged projects. As like-minded people joined in, the number of families receiving Kanna grants expanded to ten. The organization also undertakes pro bono litigation.
On January 14, 2020, a jury trial was held in Criminal Courtroom 204 at Suwon District Court in Gyeonggi Province. Crowds filled the court and its surroundings to observe the trial of Gu Bon-chang, the head of the ‘Bad Fathers’ website that disclosed the personal information of child support delinquents. Attorney Yang So-Young was Mr. Gu’s defense counsel at the time. This case served as an opportunity to widely convey in our society that child support is not merely a monetary claim but a child’s right to survival. / Kim Chang-gil, Reporter
She expressed regret, saying, “The ‘Child Support Enforcement Agency’ under the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which should be assisting with child support litigation, is not fulfilling its role.”
“Under the previous administration, an ill-prepared ‘advance child support payment system’ was introduced, and because staff are all focused on recouping the advances, the legal support truly needed by single parents is not being provided. Collection should be entrusted to the National Tax Service. Furthermore, going forward, child support should be unified with single-parent family benefits or child allowances regardless of income brackets, with the state advancing child support like a basic income and later recouping it from the non-custodial parent. I believe it is desirable to establish a Child Agency, as in Japan, to support childrearing through smooth inter-ministerial communication. Carrot policies such as income deductions or tax benefits are also needed to incentivize spouses who faithfully pay child support.”
Recently, a series of ‘divorces of the century’ have drawn attention in domestic courts. In the divorce suit between SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Noh So-young, the remand trial recently ordered Chairman Choi to pay 944.0 billion won to Director Noh. Objecting to this, Chairman Choi’s side filed another appeal but said it would accept 700.0 billion won for now.
On the 9th, a ruling was handed down for the largest property division amount in the history of divorce litigation in Korea. The court of first instance ordered Smilegate founder and Chief Visionary Officer (CVO) Kwon Hyuk-bin to divide assets worth around 2.5 trillion won with his spouse. Soongin, led by Yang, is representing Mr. Kwon’s wife, Ms. Lee, in collaboration with the Gaon and Jonjae Daeryuk Aju law firms and attorney Jung Hyun-soo.
Yang said, “It is difficult to comment on the divorce suit of Mr. Kwon, the CVO, and his wife because of the client’s wishes. However, in the case of the divorce suit between Chairman Choi and Director Noh, I am left wondering whether the additional appeal should actually have been filed by Director Noh’s side.” In her view, the valuation of the stock price was based on the date the second-instance pleadings were concluded before the Supreme Court’s remand, but it should have been calculated based on the date the final fact-finding instance closed its pleadings, that is, the most recent highest market price.
“Both cases involve divorces from companies that are extremely successful as businesses, so there is great interest in how much the contribution of a spouse who did not directly participate in management will be recognized. In particular, when a spouse runs a business, many women accept career breaks and make unseen contributions through housework, childcare and caregiving, support, and family assistance so that the spouse’s business can thrive. They consider the spouse’s business to be ‘our joint endeavor’ and willingly sacrifice. In that respect, these two cases can be evaluated as meaningful advances in recognizing that, even without direct involvement in management, the spouse contributed to the company’s inception, expansion, maintenance, and growth.”
In September last year, attorney Yang announced that she would donate all royalties from her essay <To Mothers Who Are Anxious Today, Too> to single-parent families. The essay delivers a message of “It is okay” to mothers who waver under the burden of having to raise children well and the compulsion to be perfect parents. / Courtesy of Kanna Hope Supporters
According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics National Statistics Portal, the number of divorces in South Korea is generally on a decline. However, ‘late-life divorces’ among those aged 60 and above have instead increased significantly. What is the reason? Yang explained that “grounds for divorce differ by generation,” and elaborated as follows.
“In the case of late-life divorces, many decide to proceed after enduring alone for too long, once they have finished educating their children and marrying them off. As society ages, the desire to be free from caregiving obligations and live the rest of one’s life in an authentic way has grown. People often think late-life divorces are mostly initiated by wives, but that is not so. These days, divorces requested by husbands in their 50s and 60s are also increasing for the same reasons. By contrast, many in their 20s and 30s strongly assert their own rights, and, lacking concessions and compromise, come to contemplate divorce. Marital life and childrearing require enormous concessions and effort from both spouses. It is unfortunate that conflicts arise because each side tries not to yield even a little.”
Overall divorces decreasing, but late-life divorces on the rise?Driven by the desire to live authentically in an aging society“I, too, sent all three children to Seoul National University and declared ‘graduation from marriage,’but seeing my husband weighed on my mind, so I shelved the idea after a year”
She publicly declared a ‘graduation from marriage’ on several broadcast programs last year. On MBN’s marathon program <Run or Die>, she even appeared with the title ‘graduation-from-marriage attorney.’ She said, “I spent my twenties studying for the bar exam and married in my thirties, reaching my mid-fifties without ever really going on blind dates or traveling. Having sent all three of my children to Seoul National University, I wanted to live a life that was wholly my own.”
But she set aside the idea after one year. Her heart wavered when her husband handed her a book with a passage underlined about how ‘a life of older couples living together and helping one another is beautiful,’ and decisively, when her husband donated a sum equivalent to one year of operating expenses to Kanna Hope Supporters, she was moved even more. She laughed and said, “Thanks to Kanna, my husband avoided my graduation from marriage. It seems my husband played his strategy well.”
“I am nurturing by nature, and my husband only moves when he is taken care of. If I do not nag him, he will neither wash nor eat. Our daughters say I trained their father that way and that I should just stop, but is that possible for me, given my personality (laughs)? In any case, my declaration of graduation from marriage seems to have shocked my husband greatly. When he recently turned sixty and realized that without me his health could face serious problems, I had a change of heart and decided to give up on the idea. These days my husband is making some efforts, too. After going through what feels like a kind of non-adolescent adolescence, I find myself wanting to treat him well again, and I think, perhaps this is what being a couple is (laughs).”
Asked how she envisions her life ahead, she replied as follows.
“After turning fifty, I started running and hiking and became immersed in the joy of moving my body. I added two things to my new bucket list: participating in 10㎞ marathon races until the age of ninety, and completing the certification for climbing the 100 famous mountains of Korea. With the healthy mind and spirit I have found this way, I hope to keep working for a long time as an attorney who listens to people’s stories. And what began as a bit of over-involvement, my activities with Kanna Hope Supporters, now seems to be turning into fate. I want to continue as long as God allows, and provide practical help to single-parent families and children.”
