The case law takes the formal judgment theory. That is, “an 'act of conflicting interests' under Article 921 of the Civil Code refers to an act that, by its objective nature, carries a risk of a conflict of interests between the person with parental authority and the child, or among several children under that parental authority, regardless of the intent of the person with parental authority or whether a conflict of interests actually resulted.” Following this position, the court held that it was not an act of conflicting interests where the legal mother, as the person with parental authority over a minor child born outside marriage, jointly inherited from her husband together with that minor child and an adult child born in the marriage, then renounced her own inheritance and at the same time renounced the inheritance on behalf of the minor child born outside marriage, so that the adult child born in the marriage became the sole heir.

In this case, Cheol-su, who is 13, received real estate worth 2 billion won by will from his grandfather Gap. Cheol-su's father Man-su, in the course of taking out a loan from Kookmin Bank for his business, wants to take out the loan using Cheol-su's real estate as collateral. Cheol-su's mother Young-ja and Man-su finished filing for divorce by agreement yesterday. An act of conflicting interests means “an act that benefits the person with parental authority and disadvantages the minor” or “an act that benefits one of the children under parental authority and disadvantages another.” It does not matter whether it is a contract or a unilateral act, whether it concerns property interests or status interests, and litigation acts are included. The Civil Code has no express provision on the effect when a legal representative performs an act of conflicting interests without appointing a special representative, but it is generally regarded as unauthorized agency, since the person with parental authority acted as agent in a matter outside the scope of their power of representation. Therefore it can be treated as valid if the minor ratifies it after reaching adulthood.

Legal acts with a minor require the consent of the legal representative (Civil Code Article 5(1)). A unilateral act with a minor without consent can be cancelled by the minor or the legal representative. Parents exercising parental authority must give consent jointly (Civil Code Article 909(2)). If the parents are divorced, the consent of the parent designated by agreement as the person with parental authority is needed, and if no agreement is reached, the consent of the person with parental authority decided by the family court is needed (Civil Code Article 909(4)). If one parent cannot exercise parental authority for specific reasons such as serious illness, long absence or mental incapacity, the consent of the other parent is enough (Civil Code Article 909(3)). If there is no person with parental authority or parental authority cannot be used, a guardian is appointed and the guardian can consent or act as agent. However, the guardian's acts require the consent of the family council (Civil Code Article 950).

To add: firing a worker merely for demanding wages or filing a lawsuit is an unfair dismissal without just cause under Article 23 of the Labor Standards Act, and the worker can apply for relief to the Labor Relations Commission within three months of the dismissal. Nonpayment of wages itself is subject to imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won under Article 109 of the Labor Standards Act. In the second case, the statement that a guardian's acts require the consent of the family council is outdated: the July 2013 Civil Code amendment abolished the family council and replaced it with the guardianship supervisor system, so update it to current law.