Short answer. The starting point is that you attend in person. Article 7 of the Family Litigation Act requires the party, or a legal representative, to attend a hearing or mediation date they were summoned to. A lawyer can appear instead only where there are special circumstances and the presiding judge, mediation chair or mediation judge permits it. Living abroad is the kind of circumstance that is raised, but the permission is a decision of the court, not a right.
What Article 7 says
Article 7(1) requires the party and any interested person summoned to a hearing date, an examination date or a mediation date to attend in person or through a legal representative. The proviso allows an agent to attend, and an assistant to accompany, with the permission of the presiding judge, the mediation chair or the mediation judge, where there are special circumstances.
Article 7(2) adds that a person who is not a lawyer needs permission in advance before acting as agent or assistant.
Article 7(3) is the part people overlook: the permission can be revoked at any time, and the court may order the party to attend together with the representative.
Family Litigation Act, Article 7. Act No. 20432, in force from 1 January 2026.
How this works out in practice from abroad
Mediation dates are where personal attendance is pressed hardest, because the point of the session is that the parties themselves settle the terms. A court that is willing to proceed with counsel alone at a hearing may still want the party present for mediation.
Where attendance is genuinely impossible, the realistic plan is to give counsel clear written authority on the terms you will accept, so that a session can conclude without you being reachable in the moment.
What this answer does not cover
Whether a Korean court can hear your divorce at all when one spouse lives outside Korea is a separate question with separate rules, and it is answered on its own page. This answer assumes the Korean court is already seised of the case.
What to do
- Ask for permission under the proviso early, with the reason and the evidence for it.
- Expect to be asked to attend the mediation date even if hearings proceed without you.
- Give your lawyer written settlement authority with figures, not general instructions.
- Keep travel plans flexible around the mediation date. Permission can be revoked.
Related
Can I divorce in Korea if my spouse is overseas?
Do I have to go through mediation before a contested divorce in Korea?
What if my spouse does not appear at the divorce hearing in Korea?
Which family court do I file for divorce in Korea?
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Full guide: Divorce in Korea for foreigners
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Written and reviewed by Soobin You, Attorney at YUSU Lawfirm. Former prosecutor. Last legal review: 12 September 2026.
Written and reviewed by Soobin You, Attorney at YUSU Lawfirm. Former prosecutor. Last legal review: 13 September 2026.