Ban on Same-Name Marriage Overturned
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A 689-year-old ban on marriage between people with the same surname was declared unconstitutional, a significant development in a country where 20% of people have the last name Kim. In ruling that the law was outdated, South Korea’s supreme court clears the way for about 60,000 couples already living together to marry. Though the couples share the same clan names, there is no evidence of blood ties.
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