A ruling party lawmaker has proposed banning abusive language or profanity in children's names.

Democratic Party Rep. Jeon Yong-gi on Thursday submitted an amendment to the Act on Registration of Family Relations that would allow government agencies that register births to reject children's names that are deemed profane or socially inappropriate.

The current law regulates the Hanja characters used when registering a child's birth, but does not regulate the meanings of the names, making it difficult to prevent parents from selecting derogatory or obscene monikers.

According to Jeon’s office, the courts have received applications to change legal names containing profanity. 

Jeon said it can be seen as an abuse of parental authority for parents to give names that are contrary to their children's interests, and expressed hope that the amendment will help protect children's right to pursue happiness.