Hoju

Hoju is a family register system in North Korea and formerly in South Korea. Hoju () means the "head of the family" or "head of the household", Hojuje () is the "head of the family" system, and Hojeok (; McCune–Reischauer romanization: ) is the "family register". In South Korea, it was formally introduced in 1953.
It is similar to the Japanese koseki, the Chinese hukou and the Vietnamese Hộ khẩu.
Opponents of the "hoju" system believed it to be innately patriarchal and representing a "violation of the right to gender equality". In South Korea, it was opposed by both feminists and by representatives of other religious traditions including Buddhism and Christianity. South Korea abolished "hoju" on 1 January 2008 after the Constitutional Court found it incompatible with the constitution in 2005.