SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jin Yeong Chung, Inhak Lee and Seung Hyeon Lee, Kim & Chang
third party to refrain from performing its payment obli- gation to the defendant while the case is pending. 6.7 Consequences of a Respondent’s Non- Compliance There are no civil or criminal sanctions applicable to a respondent who fails to comply with the terms of an injunction under Korean law. However, the court may state in the injunction order that the respondent must pay a fine if they violate a provisional order of continual forbearance. A civil action begins with the plaintiff filing a com- plaint with the court that has jurisdiction over the case. The court will then serve a copy of the complaint on the defendant. Once the complaint is served, the defendant has 30 days to submit an answer to the court although the time limit can be extended, at the discretion of the court, upon request by the defend- ant. There is no set timeframe for subsequent written submissions; the parties are free to make additional written submissions and file exhibits until close of the hearing. Preparatory Hearing 7. Trials and Hearings 7.1 Trial Proceedings Once the reply by the defendant is submitted, the court may schedule a preparatory hearing to determine the factual and legal issues relevant to the dispute and whether parties are willing to enter into settlement or conciliation proceedings. Preparatory hearing is at the discretion of the court, which will determine whether such hearing is necessary considering the size and complexity of the case, etc. If no preparatory hearings are held, or upon the clos- ing of the preparatory hearing, the court will typically hold more than one main hearing. The interval of each hearing may differ depending on the complexity of the case. Witnesses and Oral Testimonies Witness/expert examination can be pursued upon the request of a party. Witnesses/experts normally pro- vide oral testimony at the hearing, although, in some
cases, the court may allow a witness/expert to pro- vide testimony in writing. A party is entitled to cross- examine the witness/expert, and the court will ask questions after the examination of the parties. Korean courts are increasingly encouraging oral testimony at hearings, highlighting the benefits of oral arguments. Nevertheless, written submissions and documentary evidence still hold great importance in the court. Once the hearing is closed, the court will schedule the date for announcement of its judgment, which is typically two to six weeks after closure of the hearing. 7.2 Case Management Hearings In Korea, the court holds short, regular hearings rather than one concentrated hearing, usually until the par- ties agree that they have submitted all the arguments and evidence they have. Although the court has discretion to set the schedules for procedure, the parties may request the court to provide them sufficient time to prepare and to extend or change the scheduled dates from time to time. The court usually allows such changes as long as it is not deemed to be an undue delay of the case. 7.3 Jury Trials in Civil Cases There is no jury trial in civil actions in Korea. Only for a limited number of criminal cases has Korea adopted a public participatory trial, which adopts some of the features of a jury trial. Members of the public par- ticipate in the hearings of the criminal proceedings and can offer a collective opinion on the verdict of the criminal case. The court, however, is not bound by their opinion. 7.4 Rules That Govern Admission of Evidence There are no strict rules on admissibility of evidence in civil action in Korea. Judges may determine whether the facts alleged by a party are true on the basis of their full discretion and there are no restrictions on the form of the evidence that can be relied upon by the judge. Documents pre- pared after the commencement of the case, or a copy of the document, are also acceptable. Even a docu- ment produced in the course of settlement discussion is admissible as evidence.
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