KOREAN DIVORCE: Local Court Respects Divorce filing in U.S.

A Seoul court Wednesday (2004) turned down a petition by a man to lift an injunction against his property in relation to his divorce case, saying it will respect the wife's divorce filing in a foreign court.

Court officials said it is the first time a Korean court has decided to recognize the validity of a lawsuit, which was filed with a court in other countries by Korean nationals.

The wife filed for divorce last December with a county court in Virginia, the United States. At the start of divorce proceedings, the wife also filed a petition for property division. According to her lawyers, she filed the suit in the U.S., not in Korea, because U.S. courts usually make rulings more favorable to wives in divorce cases.

While the two individuals concerned are both Korean nationals, they have resided in both the U.S. and Korea and have properties in both countries.

After filing for divorce in the U.S., the wife also submitted a petition with the Seoul Family Court to temporarily freeze 7.9 billion won of her husband's property in Korea.

The Korean court accepted the petition, leaving the husband, identified as Ahn, unable to exercise his property rights until a ruling is made by the U.S. court.

As proceedings in the U.S. court dragged on, the husband filed a petition with the Seoul Family Court to lift the freeze on his property. However, the family court said it is unable to handle his divorce case because it is already under the review of the U.S. court.

The court's decision means the South Korean court may be dependent on a ruling by a foreign court if it is more effective in protecting the basic rights of Korean nationals.

Judge Jin Hyun-min of the Seoul Family Court said the wife filed a suit with a foreign court for her interests, and the court should respect her decision. Although she and her husband are both Koreans, a local court cannot make a judgment on her case because she wants her case to be dealt with by a foreign court, Jin said.