Can I divorce in Korea if my spouse is overseas?

What Korean law says

Article 56(1): a Korean court has international jurisdiction over a marriage case in any of the following situations. First, where the habitual residence of one spouse is in Korea and the couple’s last joint habitual residence was in Korea. Second, where the habitual residence of the plaintiff and of all or some of the minor children is in Korea. Third, where both spouses are Korean nationals. Fourth, where a plaintiff who is a Korean national with habitual residence in Korea brings the case solely for the purpose of dissolving the marriage.

Article 66: the law applicable to divorce follows Article 64, with a proviso. Article 64 sets an order: the spouses’ common national law; failing that, the law of their common habitual residence; failing that, the law of the place most closely connected with the spouses. The proviso in Article 66 is that where one spouse is a Korean national with habitual residence in Korea, Korean law governs the divorce.

Act on Private International Law, Articles 56, 64 and 66. Act No. 18670, in force from 5 July 2022.

What usually happens in practice

The recurring situation is a couple who married in Korea where one spouse has since returned home. Article 56(1)(1) is usually the route: one spouse still habitually resides in Korea, and Korea was the last joint habitual residence. The second route matters for parents, because it turns on where the plaintiff and the minor children habitually reside rather than on where the couple last lived together.

Habitual residence is a factual question, not a matter of visa category. Where someone actually lives, works, and keeps a home carries more weight than what a residence card says, which cuts both ways for foreign nationals.

The governing-law question is the one people skip. Where neither spouse is a Korean national habitually resident in Korea, the proviso in Article 66 does not apply and the Article 64 ladder decides, which can point at a foreign law even in a Korean court. That changes the grounds, and sometimes the outcome on property.

Service on a spouse abroad is a separate practical problem and it is what usually lengthens these cases. It is a timetable issue rather than a jurisdictional one, but it should be planned for at the outset.

What you should do next

• Settle jurisdiction and governing law first. Everything else depends on those two answers.
• Gather proof of habitual residence: lease, employment, schooling, where the household actually was.
• If there are minor children, note where they habitually reside. It can supply jurisdiction on its own.
• Plan for service abroad early. It is the usual cause of delay.

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