Tag: Korean Law Firm

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Recently we got a question about the definition of “sexual harassment” under Korean law.

Article 3-4 of The Framework Act on Women’s Development defines a “Sexual Harassment” as “sexual comments and behaviors incurring sexual mortification and repugnance, or giving disadvantages in employment for not accepting sexual advances or other request, on the part of employees in public sector, employers, or workers, using their status or job position related to jobs or employment relations, etc.”.

In order to be liable for a sexual harassment, the person does not necessarily have to have a sexual motive or intent. It can be inferred and proved by totality of situation such as the relationship with the person, place and circumstance of the behavior, content of the clear and referred response of the behavior, content and degree of the act, whether the act is ephemeral or short-timed or continual. There must be an act that provokes sexual mortification and repugnance to an average person who are in the similar situation generally, and from that the average person should feel the sexual mortification and repugnance. Therefore, a sexual harassment can not be established not merely for the reason that counterpart felt sexual mortification and repugnance (more…)

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According to article 5 of the Private International Act(“PIA”) of Korea, a court shall investigate and apply the contents of the foreign law designated by the PIA on its own initiative. However, sometimes it’s not easy for Korean court to confirm the right meaning and contents of foreign laws.

In this regard, the Supreme Court of South Korea has ruled as follows, in a case where the both parties had different interpretation of relevant Polish laws in deciding who’s the real owner of a ship registered in Poland(2006da5130):

“In confirming the content and interpreting the meaning of foreign laws and regulations to be applied to legal relations having foreign elements, the interpretation and application shall be made in accordance with the meaning and the content through which the foreign law is actually interpreted in the home country, and the judgment by the highest court of the home country, unless under special circumstances, shall be respected, but if it is impossible to confirm the content because of the insufficiency in submitted data in the process of a suit about (more…)

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A Korean cosmetics Company filed a lawsuit against its model, Ivy, a K-pop female singer, alleging her lies and scandal-plagued private life has damaged its brand images.

The cosmetics company had hired Ivy as its advertisement model last April, but after then, Ivy got a scandal with her ex-boyfriend who allegedly had attempted to blackmail her with a revealing video clip showing him with the K-pop star. Ivy has stopped her career until now and the cosmetics company claims it constitutes a breach of contract under which Ivy is required not to harm the image of the company or its brand with any scandalous or improper behavior. You can read the news article here.

There was a similar case between a top T.V star Choi, Jin-Sil, and its advertiser. The company claimed that (more…)

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The Supreme Court of Korea ruled on February 28 in favor of LG Household and Health Care of Korea(“LG Household”), a domestic diaper manufacturer, saying it did not violate a patent of the U.S. firm Kimberly-Clark Corp.

The Supreme Court held that the disposable diaper with a leak-preventing flap produced by LG Household did not infringe on a patent owned by Kimberly-Clark and its local affiliate Yuhan Kimberly.

It was a long 8-year fierce lawsuit between two giants. Kimberly-Clark (more…)

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It was reported yesterday that The Fair Trade Commission of South Korea(FTC) has opened a new division to investigate and monitor international cartels. The new division will be responsible for monitoring foreign companies for possible fair trade law violations as well as those carried out by foreign business associations. There have been increasing number of cross-border cartels suspected of violation on fair trade laws. However,until now, the FTC has been unable to crack down international cartel cases (more…)

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This is an ICN(International Competition Network) Anti-Cartel Enforcement Template published on 2007. 5. 9. This template introduces very useful information regarding Korean legislation and related topics on cartels such as:

Information on the Law Relating to Cartels
Scope and Nature of Prohibition on Cartels
Investigation Institutions
Decision-making Institutions
Handling Complaints and Initiation of Proceedings
Leniency Policy
Investigative Powers of the Enforcing Institutions
Procedural Rights of (more…)

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[Updated: August 7, 2020]

Who Shall Have a Right of Property Division in Korea?

Korean divorce law allows a claim for the division of property. It is a statutory right of any party divorcing under Korean divorce law.  It means even a spouse who is responsible for the marriage breakdown has the right, too. Some people think a spouse at fault is not awarded this right, but that is not true.  There was a court case where even a spouse who cheated on the wife can claim for property division.

The division of property shall be determined by the parties’ agreement first.  If no agreement is made or if it is impossible to reach an agreement, the Family court shall, upon the petition by the party, determine the amount and method of division.

(more…)

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Recently I got a question from a U.S. citizen living in the states. He has a Korean wife and a son. He’s currently living separately from the wife and son in Korea. The wife refuses his contact with the kid. He tries to get the custody but is not sure about filing a divorce law suit right away.

A child custody has two meanings in Korea.  One is a right to make decisions for the child (so-called parental authority) and the other is right to foster the child.

Getting divorced is not necessarily required to have the “right to foster” under Korean law. He can request the Korean Family Court to designate him as the sole child fosterer, maintaining his marriage.  The court will consider certain factors such as child’s age, past and current life style, occupation and standard of living of both parties and so on in deciding who is going to be a right fosterer in terms of the child’s welfare.

Regarding the expense of bringing up a child, if he is designated as a sole fosterer, the wife shall pay the certain proportion of total expenses of bringing up a child.

In a case where he fails to be designated as a sole fosterer by the court, he shall be entitled to have a visitation right according to Korean law. He can request the court to prevent his wife from interrupting his regular visitation to his (more…)

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Previously I had a chance to write a post about a divorce issue when a husband did an act of unchastity.  By the way, what if he did commit an adultery?  It surely not only constitutes a legal ground for divorce in favor of the wife, but also the wife can accuse the husband of adultery to the police.  That is because, according to the Korean Criminal Law, unlikely with the U.S. law, (more…)