Some 12,000 parents changed their children's family name and permanent domicile last year since the Civil Law was amended to allow this. According to the Supreme Court on Sunday, a total of 16,525 petitions were submitted last year, of which 14,269 have been processed. Some 12,582 cases were accepted, 574 rejected, and 1,113 dropped or transferred to other courts. Since many parents asked for change of surname for more than one child, the number of children whose last name was changed will be even larger.

Most petitions were filed by mothers who remarried to change their children's surname to their new husbands'. Until the law was revised, children had to keep the family name of the birth father and children of remarried mothers often encountered prejudice when they had a different family name from their stepfather. The comedienne Kim Mi-hwa changed the last name of her two children to her new husband's in January 2008. Some divorced women who remain single also opted to change their children's surname to theirs, like the late actress Choi Jin-sil. Over 6,000 cases were filed immediately the law took effect, and since then about 600 cases every month.

Meanwhile, some 2,498 people sought to fully adopt children, making use of another revision introduced at the same time, and 1,743 cases were accepted. If a child is fully adopted, the child is regarded as born between the adopting parents, the surname and permanent domicile are changed to that of the adoptive father, and the legal relationship between the child and the birth parents dissolves. In most cases, remarried men filed for full adoption of children of his new wife.