Procedure

Any Plaintiff, who has received a judgment from a foreign court in favor of him against a Defendant who has assets in Korea shall receive a Korean court's approval to enforce the judgment called an "Enforcement Judgment."

To seek an Enforcement Judgment, one has to file a suit against the Defendant in the court having jurisdiction over the Defendant, based on his address. Not all foreign judgments are recognized, but they should meet requirements provided in the Civil Enforcement Act. Despite where an Enforcement Judgment is given, the Defendant may appeal to the Appellate Court, the Plaintiff is entitled to enforce the foreign judgment with the Enforcement Judgment of the first instance. To enforce the foreign judgment, the Plaintiff shall authorize the enforcement to the court's executor.

Requirements

The foreign judgment shall be final and conclusive, in other words, it may not be challenged and it has to meet requirements provided in Article 217 of the Civil Procedure Act. >

  Subject of Enforcement Judgment

A foreign judgment that can be recognized and enforced must be a final judgment decided on the merits. As a result, preliminary measures such as injunctions are not recognized. In addition, a foreign judgment shall be a ruling that orders the Defendant to fulfill its obligation, regardless of whether it is performance or nonperformance.

  Others

  Jurisdiction    The foreign court having held the judgment, of which recognition and enforcement is sought, shall have jurisdiction over the case according to the principle of international jurisdiction under Korean rule of law or international treaties. The court which has a substantial relationship with parties or subject matter has jurisdiction under the International Private Act. Aforementioned substantial relationship will be decided upon consideration of all the matters concerning the subject case comprehensively. Other than statutory jurisdiction the exclusive jurisdiction agreement between the parties is in effect provided that the subject matter is not exclusively under Korean courts by Acts, the designated foreign court has jurisdiction under the its county's law and the subject matter is reasonably related to the foreign country. If the foreign country is the place where either party has its office or assets or shall perform its obligation, the foreign country is reasonably related to the subject matter.

  Service of Process     The party against whom the judgment is invoked shall be given a petition or legitimate notice of court proceedings with sufficient time to defend itself other than by the public announcement or something of the kind unless the Defendant answers the suit voluntarily. Legality of the service of process is decided by whether the Defendant's right to defend was infringed or not.

  Public Policy    The recognition and enforcement of the judgment shall not be contrary to public policy. The public policy hereof is not a domestic public policy but rather international public policy, whereby connection stability of the international trade shall be taken into consideration to decide whether the recognition and enforcement of the judgment is contrary to public policy. A mere breach of mandatory law does not mean the breach of international public policy. International public policy consists of the substantive public policy and the procedural public policy. Thus, the international public policy covers fundamental principles of law and justice in substantive as well as procedural respects. Instances such as corruption, bribery, fraud or similar serious cases would constitute grounds for refusing recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. In a case seeking recognition and enforcement of a Minnesota (U.S.) court's judgment of $500,000 for punitive damages, the Seoul Eastern District Court recognized only 50% of the punitive damages holding that punitive damages greater than the maximum allowable amount for compensatory damages in Korea violate public policy.

  Reciprocity    The foreign country where recognition and enforcement of its judgment is sought is supposed to recognize and enforce Korean courts' judgment in the equivalent manner as Korean courts. Reciprocity is not necessarily provided in the treaty, however, it is sufficient if there is a possibility to recognize and enforce a Korean court's judgment, according to the foreign country's law. The Korean Supreme Court (2002da74213) held that if requirements for recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in a country are neither stricter than nor substantially different from those of Korea, in the same subject matter judgment, the reciprocity requirement is fulfilled.