National Court Administration, Family Register Office for Overseas Koreans

  • KOREAN
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Report of Divorce

Divorce by Trial

  1. Divorce by trial in the Republic of Korea

    If a judgement rendered by a court of the Republic of Korea on a divorce becomes final and conclusive as the court’s international jurisdiction is recognized under the provisions of private international law, a report of divorce may be filed along with an authentic or certified copy of the judgement and a certificate of the finality of the judgement.
    In the case of filing a report based on the divorce judgement, the report must be filed within one month from the date the judgement became final.
    The report may be filed even after the reporting period. However, a person who is obligated to file the report but fails to do so within the specified period without good cause shall be subject to an administrative fine.

  2. Divorce by trial in foreign countries

    A judgement rendered by a foreign court on divorce is effective and valid in the Republic of Korea as long as the judgement meets the requirements under Article 217 of the Civil Procedure Act.

    In case the plaintiff files a divorce report, the authentic or certified copy of the judgement on the divorce, the certificate of the finality of the judgement, documents proving that a written complaint or any equivalent document, and notices of the date of pleading or orders have been served on the losing defendant in due process with sufficient time to defend (except for the cases where documents were served by public notification) or documents that demonstrate the defendant’s defense to the lawsuit (such documents are unnecessary if the defense can be verified with the authentic or certified copy of the judgement) shall be submitted along with the translations of each of the aforementioned documents.

    However, if the defendant files a divorce report, only the authentic or certified copy of the judgement on the divorce and the certificate of the finality of the judgement are required.

    Meanwhile, if a divorce certificate is issued instead of the certificate of the finality of the judgement, the certificate can be attached to the report and submitted, but the authentic or certified copy of the judgement must be submitted even in this case.