Which country's court and law decide my international divorce?

If you live in Korea and the two of you last lived together here, a Korean family court can usually hear your divorce, even if your spouse has since gone back to their home country. The same is true when you and your minor child live in Korea. Which law the court applies is a separate question. If your spouse is a Korean national living in Korea, the court uses Korean law. If not, it uses your shared nationality's law first, then the law of the country where you both live, then the law of the place most closely connected to your marriage. So a Korean court may decide a divorce under Vietnamese, Chinese or Uzbek law.

When can a Korean court hear my divorce?

Korea's Private International Act (국제사법) gives Korean courts power over a marriage case in any of these situations:

• one spouse lives in Korea, and Korea was the couple's last shared home
• the person filing and all or some of the minor children live in Korea
• both spouses are Korean nationals
• a Korean national living in Korea files only to end the marriage

"Live" here means habitual residence (일상거소): the place where your life is actually based, not only the address on a card. A lease, school records for the children, a job and years of residence registration all help to show it.

Two consequences surprise many couples. First, you cannot create jurisdiction by agreement. A clause in a prenuptial contract naming a court, or your spouse simply turning up to argue the case, does not make a Korean court competent for a divorce if none of the grounds above applies. Second, once a Korean court has the divorce, it can also decide parental authority, the child's caregiver and support payments in the same case.

Which country's law will the court apply?

Your couple	Law that decides the divorce
One spouse is Korean and lives in Korea	Korean law
Both spouses have the same foreign nationality	The law of that country
Different nationalities, both living in Korea	Korean law, as the law of your shared residence
Different nationalities, living in different countries	The law of the place most closely connected to the marriage

When foreign law applies, the court must work out what it says. Expect to submit the relevant provisions with a Korean translation, and expect the case to take longer. A foreign rule is set aside if applying it would plainly violate Korean public order, for example a rule that lets only the husband end the marriage.

Dividing property follows a similar order, unless the two of you signed and dated a written agreement choosing the law of one spouse's nationality or residence, or, for real estate, the law of the place where it lies.

Which family court in Korea do I file with?

Inside Korea, the case goes to the family court for the area where you both last lived, if one of you still lives there. Otherwise it usually goes to the court for your spouse's address. If your spouse has no address in Korea, or you do not know it, the law sends the case to the family court in the city where the Supreme Court sits, which is Seoul.

My spouse has gone home and does not answer. Can the case go ahead?

Yes, but plan for delay. Papers must be served on your spouse abroad through official channels, which can take many months depending on the country. If you truly cannot find an address, the court can allow service by public notice (공시송달) once you show you searched: old addresses, messages, relatives, the embassy.

Divorce cases normally start with court mediation (조정). The court does not have to send the case to mediation when your spouse can only be reached by public notice, because mediation needs both people. In that situation the case can go directly to trial, and you must prove your grounds for divorce with documents and witnesses even though no one argues against you.

What to gather:

• your spouse's last known address abroad and any contact details
• proof of where you lived together in Korea (lease, resident registration records)
• the marriage certificate from both countries, translated
• evidence of the reason for the divorce

What if a case is already running in the other country?

Then the Korean court has to coordinate with it. If the same divorce is pending abroad and the foreign judgment is expected to be recognized in Korea, the Korean court may pause your case. If a foreign judgment that meets Korea's recognition conditions already exists, a new Korean case on the same divorce is dismissed. Your spouse may also ask, before the first hearing on the merits, that the Korean court step aside because a foreign court is clearly better placed. The court must hear you before it decides that.

If you divorced abroad, the foreign judgment does not update Korean records by itself. Recognition follows the Civil Procedure Act (민사소송법), and the Korean spouse's family register is changed through a separate report. Ask before you assume you are single in Korea.

Will my home country accept a Korean divorce?

That depends on your home country's rules, not Korea's. Many countries require you to register a foreign divorce at a court, a civil registry or the embassy, usually with an apostilled and translated judgment. Ask your embassy in Seoul which documents it needs before the Korean case ends, so that you can request the right certified copies from the court.

Do I have to attend the hearings in person?

In family cases the parties are expected to appear themselves. With the judge's permission, a lawyer can attend for you, and that permission is commonly sought when a party lives abroad or cannot travel. Ask the court early about an interpreter if your Korean is not strong enough for a hearing.

Next step

Write down three facts before you speak to anyone: where each of you lives today, where you last lived together, and the nationality of each spouse and child. Those three answers decide both the court and the law. Bring them, with your marriage records, to a consultation. Consultations are paid; when you contact us, a staff member will call you back and explain the fee.

법무법인 대한중앙
1533-7377

Rules applied

Private International Act (국제사법) Article 2 (substantial connection), Article 6(3) (custody and support decided with the main family case), Article 11 (parallel foreign proceedings; dismissal where a recognizable foreign judgment exists), Article 12 (declining jurisdiction on the defendant's request), Article 13 (no jurisdiction by agreement or appearance in marriage cases), Article 23 (foreign law against public order), Article 56(1) (jurisdiction over marriage cases), Article 64 (general effects of marriage: shared nationality, shared habitual residence, closest connection), Article 65(1) and (2) (matrimonial property and written choice of law), Article 66 (divorce; Korean law where one spouse is a Korean national resident in Korea). Family Litigation Act (가사소송법) Article 7(1) (personal attendance, agent with permission), Article 13(2) (no address in Korea: family court where the Supreme Court sits), Article 22 (venue for judicial divorce), Article 50 (mediation first; exception for service by public notice).

This is general information, not legal advice. Every case is different.