SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jin Yeong Chung, Inhak Lee and Seung Hyeon Lee, Kim & Chang
Kim & Chang 39, Sajik-ro 8-gil Jongno-gu
Seoul 03170 South Korea Tel: +82 2 3703 1114 Fax: +82 2 737 9091/9092 Email: lawkim@kimchang.com Web: www.kimchang.com
1. General 1.1 General Characteristics of the Legal System Korea is a civil law country with procedures that are similar to those of other civil law countries such as Germany, France and Japan. In principle, the civil liti- gation system in Korea is designed to be adversarial, but inquisitorial procedures are also incorporated within the system. The court considers both oral and written submissions from the parties. Presentations in court are becom- ing more common and the electronic case filing sys- tem facilitates effective debate at the hearing as the contents of written submissions and/or the related evidence can be viewed in the courtroom through a projector. Still, written submissions carry considera- ble weight with the judge, especially when the factual and/or legal issues are complex and a series of hear- ings are held to conclude a case. 1.2 Court System Korea is not a federal state and, as such, has a single judicial system. The Korean court system for civil cases consists of three levels: • the courts of first instance; • the courts of appellate level; and • the Supreme Court.
There are no separate commercial courts, and com- mercial cases are treated as ordinary civil cases. There are no separate courts established to hear small claim cases. Instead, cases are assigned at the courts of first instance level based on the size of the claim, as follows: • where the claim amount is KRW500 million or less, the case is heard by a single judge; and • where the claim amount is more than KRW500 mil- lion, or if the claim amount cannot be determined, the case is heard by a panel of three judges. The claim size also determines which court hears the appeal. For smaller claims of KRW500 million or less, appeals are heard by appellate benches at district court level. For larger claims, appeals are heard at one of the five high courts located in different regions: Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon and Gwangju. According to the 2024 annual audit report circulated by the Supreme Court, in 2024, it took about four months for single-judge panels to schedule the first hearing in civil proceedings after the complaint was filed while it took about six months for three-judge panels to schedule the first hearing in civil proceed- ings after the complaint was filed. Further, district court proceedings by single-judge panels and three- judge panels took an average of five months and 15 months, respectively, before decisions were rendered, while high court proceedings took an average of 11 months, and Supreme Court proceedings took an average of one year.
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