We have received many inquires regarding the child support obligation and custody/visitation rights under the Korean law. Some cases are related to the divorcing parties and some to the unmarried couples who had babies during the relationship.
In case of unmarried couples, the birth father has no parental rights and obligations until his paternity is established in Korea. That can be done in 2 ways. One is to report himself as the father with the Korean local government and the other one is a filing a paternity suit.
When the parental relationship is established by either way, the parties need to agree on the matters of child custody, visitation and child support. The same goes for the divorcing couple. When it is hard to reach an agreement, Continue reading →
(Question) I have a question regarding my current situation with my ex husband. He is a Korean national and working there in South Korea. I lived there until 2014 when I came back to Washington and filed a divorce complaint here. Since then he has refused to speak with me. This year my US lawyer duly served him with the paper but he just kept ignoring it. At any rate, I got a divorce decree and child support ruling for my baby this April. Now I am wondering how I can enforce my US ruling in Korea, knowing that he is living a luxurious life and feels that he can just ignore his child and the responsibilities that come with it.
(Answer) I have to say there is something unclear in this case. If the court proceedings in Washington(WA) court have been duly made, i.e. (i) the WA court had proper jurisdiction and (ii) he was duly served, you can apply for its execution in Korea to the Korean court. Otherwise, you may initiate whole process de nuvo in Korea. The second threshold seems to have been met here. Thus, the real issue here rather be the first one.
Please note that the jurisdiction must be acknowledged in the view of Korean law, not WA law. Thus, even though the WA ruling says the WA court has a proper jurisdiction, the Korean court will Continue reading →
Q) I filed for divorce in Ontario, Canada. My husband lived in Canada and he was duly served with the court’s documents. I will have a final divorce ruling from Canadian court including child support and alimony order soon. But the issue is he will probably leave Canada and head to South Korea after the ruling is issued. Will the Korean Courts recognize the Canadian court order in order to enforce his performance of child support and alimony payment?
A) There is a case where Korean Supreme Court recognized and approved the Canadian court’s divorce/asset distribution/child support/alimony order. That order was issued from Superior Court of Justice in Ontario.
As a matter of law, Korean court recognizes foreign court’s divorce ruling so far as (i) the foreign court has a jurisdiction over the case in perspective of Korean law, (ii) the defendant was duly served, (iii) the ruling of the foreign court does not violate the social order of South Korea and (iv) there exists a mutual guaranty for recognition of rulings between the two jurisdictions. For the last element, the Korean Supreme Court held that South Korea and Ontario have a mutual guaranty. What is more important here is that the Supreme Court recognized foreign court’s alimony order. Under Korean law, there is no legal concept of alimony in divorce. Therefore, some may argue that as the alimony is not the legal right established in Korea, recognizing foreign court’s alimony ruling in Korea would violate the social order of South Korea. But, Continue reading →
