Court orders DNA tests for N. Korean family in inheritance feud

SEOUL, Nov. 11 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court ordered DNA tests for people in North
Korea who claim they are the children of a South Korean man and are demanding
their portion of an inheritance that he left behind, court officials said
Wednesday.
The children's alleged father, identified only by his family name Yoon, came to
the South during the 1950-53 Korean War with his oldest daughter, leaving his
first wife, two sons and three daughters behind in the North. He remarried a
South Korean woman and had four more children.
Yoon died in 1987 and left 10 billion won (US$8.6 million) to his second wife and
their children in the South.
The North Korean claimants filed a lawsuit before the Seoul Central District
Court through a South Korean activist in February this year, demanding their
share of the inheritance as Yoon's children. They have already submitted
fingernail and hair samples to the court for DNA tests to verify their
relationship to Yoon, according to court officials.
In a ruling that apparently tips the case in favor of the North Koreans, the
Seoul Family Court ordered DNA tests comparing the plaintiffs in the North and
their alleged half-siblings in the South.
"If they do not abide by the order, they will be fined and the court decision
will be unfavorable to them," a court official said.
The test results are expected to affect the outcome of the lawsuit over Yoon's
inheritance, which had been suspended until confirmation of the paternity of the
children in the North.
The case has from the beginning drawn attention as it involves plaintiffs in the
North, raising complicated legal questions over whether they are eligible to
pursue a lawsuit in the South. It was further complicated by limited means in
verifying the authenticity of DNA test samples sent by the plaintiffs.
The North Koreans initiated the legal claims with the help of the unidentified
activist, a member of a South Korean relief group. The activist, who heard of
their circumstances during his visit to the North, helped them contact their
sister in the South and also brought the samples for the DNA tests.
"The analysis of the samples from the siblings would confirm with 99.9 percent
accuracy whether they are from the same parents," Bae Kum-ja, legal counsel for
the North Koreans, said.
A judge at the Seoul Central District Court said the latest ruling does favor the
North Koreans.
"But even if blood relations between the children involved are proven, we have to
see whether that leads to confirmation of the parent-child relationship between
the plaintiffs and Yoon," he said.
brk@yna.co.kr
(END)