Korean Divorce and Family Law Answers

A Korean divorce settles the finances once, at the divorce, rather than spreading them over the years afterwards. That makes the questions of which route you are on, what counts as marital property, and what deadlines are running more consequential than they are in systems with ongoing maintenance. For international couples, jurisdiction and governing law have to be settled before any of it.

Every answer states the current version of the Act it relies on and the date it was last checked, so you can see what it is based on.

Answers in this section

• How long does a divorce take in Korea?
  If both spouses agree, the floor is the statutory waiting period: three months where there is a child to be raised, one month wher
• Does Korea have no-fault divorce?
  Korea does not have the unilateral no-fault divorce familiar from the United States and similar systems.
• Can I divorce in Korea if my spouse is overseas?
  Often yes, but two separate questions have to be answered before anything else: whether a Korean court has jurisdiction, and which
• How is property divided in a Korean divorce?
  Not by a fixed percentage.
• Is there alimony in Korea after divorce?
  Not in the form used in the United States and many other countries.
• What if my spouse hides assets before a Korean divorce?
  There is a specific remedy for it.
• Who gets custody in a Korean divorce?
  Korean law splits the question in two, and foreign parents are often caught out by that.
• Do I get visitation rights after a Korean divorce?
  Yes, and it belongs to the child as much as to you.
• Can I be sued in Korea for dating someone who turned out to be married?
  Yes, a spouse can sue you personally, and these claims are common in Korea.
• What happens to my visa after divorce in Korea?
  Marriage-based residence does not survive the marriage on its own, and nothing happens automatically in your favour.
• Do I have to go through mediation before a contested divorce in Korea?
  A judicial divorce is a Type B family case, so Article 50 requires an application for mediation first. Filing the suit without it does not skip the stage.
• Which family court do I file for divorce in Korea?
  Article 22 gives exclusive jurisdiction and ranks five rules in order. The one that usually decides it is the district of the last common address.
• How are divorce papers served on a spouse outside Korea?
  Service goes through the embassy or the foreign authority. Where that fails, service by public notice takes effect two months later, and that period cannot be shortened.
• What if my spouse does not appear at the divorce hearing in Korea?
  Silence is not an admission. Article 12 switches off the deemed admission rules for this class of case, so the ground still has to be proved.
• Can I get temporary orders while a Korean divorce is running?
  A pre-disposition order under Article 62 has no enforcement power. Provisional attachment under Article 63 does bind, and needs no security.
• Is a mediated divorce as binding as a judgment in Korea?
  Entered in the record, it has the same effect as a settlement in court, except for matters the parties cannot freely dispose of.
• What happens if divorce mediation fails in Korea?
  The suit is deemed brought on the day you applied for mediation. You make up the stamp duty, and the mediation opinion follows the file.
• How does a mediated divorce differ from a contested one in Korea?
  Mediation records terms and proves nothing. A contested divorce requires a statutory ground established to the court.
• Do I have to attend my Korean divorce hearing in person if I live abroad?
  Article 7 requires the party in person. An agent may appear only with permission for special circumstances, and that permission can be revoked.

Related

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International divorce in Korea
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Divorce and family law services
All Korean law answers

Written and reviewed by Soobin You, Attorney at YUSU Lawfirm. Former prosecutor. Last legal review: 12 September 2026.