How are divorce papers served on a spouse outside Korea?

The route the court tries first

Family litigation procedure follows the Civil Procedure Act except where the Family Litigation Act says otherwise. Service abroad is one of the places it follows.

Under Article 191, the presiding judge entrusts service to the Korean ambassador, minister or consul stationed in that country, or to the competent public authority of that country. This is a state-to-state route, not a courier, and it is slow. Several months is normal, and in some countries it simply does not come back.

Family Litigation Act, Article 12; Civil Procedure Act, Articles 191, 194, 195 and 196. Family Litigation Act No. 20432, in force from 1 January 2026; Civil Procedure Act No. 19516, in force from 12 July 2025.

When service abroad does not work

Article 194(1) allows service by public notice where the address or workplace is unknown, and also where service abroad cannot be made under Article 191 or would have no effect. The court clerk can do it on application or on the court own initiative, and an applicant has to make out the grounds.

Article 194(3) lets the presiding judge order it where it is needed to avoid delaying the case. Article 195 sets the method, which is posting on the court notice board or another method fixed by Supreme Court rule.

The timing rule is the one people get wrong. Under Article 196(2), where service has to be made abroad, the first public notice takes effect two months after it is carried out, not two weeks. Article 196(3) says neither period can be shortened.

If your spouse is a foreign national abroad

Two practical problems come on top of the procedure. The address has to be specific enough for a foreign authority to act on, which usually means more than a city and a building name. And the name has to match the identity documents of that country, not the spelling used on the Korean family register.

Where the papers have to be translated, the translation goes with the request, so a wrong address is not discovered until months later. It is worth spending the time on the address before the request goes out rather than after it comes back.

What to do

• Collect any current proof of the foreign address: a lease, a utility account, an employer letter.
• Give the court the name exactly as it appears on that country identity or travel document.
• Ask for service abroad early, because the clock on it is long.
• If service abroad has already failed once, say so when you apply for service by public notice. That failure is the ground.

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.