Supreme Court: Korean Courts Can Hear Divorce Cases Involving Foreigners with Domestic Addresses and Property

Supreme Court, Seocho-dong, Seoul. Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The Supreme Court of Korea has ruled that Korean courts can hear divorce lawsuits involving foreign couples who have addresses and assets in Korea. This is expected to serve as a guideline for determining jurisdiction when Korean courts handle international family law cases in the future.

On the 25th, the Supreme Court's Third Division (Presiding Justice Kim Jaehyung) announced that it upheld the appellate court's decision, which accepted the plaintiff's claim in the divorce and property division appeal filed by Mr. A, a Canadian national husband, against his wife Ms. B, who holds the same nationality.

The couple, married in July 2013, lived together in Quebec, Canada for about four months. However, the separation began when Ms. B moved alone to Korea. Ms. B also purchased an apartment and a vehicle in Korea.

As the separation prolonged, Mr. A filed for divorce at the Seoul Family Court in 2015. He cited Canadian divorce law, which stipulates "separation for more than one year" and "cases where the spouse has caused physical or mental suffering to the extent that cohabitation is impossible" as grounds for divorce.

The first trial ruled against the plaintiff, but the appellate court overturned this decision. It found the grounds for divorce claimed by Mr. A based on Canadian divorce law to be valid. Additionally, it ordered the property to be divided 80:20 according to Quebec civil law.

Ms. B appealed, arguing that Korean courts do not have jurisdiction to hear their divorce case. She claimed that for the proper application of Canadian law, the local court should make the judgment, and that the property division order issued by the Korean court was also unjust.

However, the Supreme Court ruled that domestic courts do have jurisdiction. The court stated, "If the issue of whether the property in Korea is subject to division along with the divorce is fiercely disputed, it is substantially closely related to Korea."

Furthermore, the court added, "The fact that Canadian law was applied does not negate the substantial connection of the lawsuit to Korea or the Korean court. Even if Canadian courts have jurisdiction, it does not preclude recognizing the jurisdiction of Korean courts."

A Supreme Court official explained the significance of this ruling, saying, "This is the first case to clarify that international jurisdiction can apply to family law cases and to present criteria for judging substantial connection under Article 2 of the International Private Law in family law cases."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.