SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jin Yeong Chung, Inhak Lee and Seung Hyeon Lee, Kim & Chang
Where it does not apply, foreign arbitral awards are reviewed in the same manner as foreign court judg- ments, pursuant to the relevant law. A Korean court will recognise and enforce a foreign award not subject to the New York Convention if: • the award is final and conclusive; • the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal is consistent with Korean law and treaties to which Korea is a party; • the losing party received adequate notice of the arbitration and sufficient time to defend its case; • the award is not in conflict with the good morals or other public policy of Korea; and • the country in which the arbitral award was issued provides reciprocity to Korean judicial decisions and arbitral awards. Generally speaking, Korean courts are considered to be friendly to arbitration. The Korean Supreme Court has ruled that, under the New York Convention, con- siderations of public policy must take into account not only Korea’s domestic situation, but also the need for foresight and stability in international business trans- actions. 14. Outlook 14.1 Proposals for Dispute Resolution Reform The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) are reportedly preparing an amendment to the Patent Act to introduce a “discovery” system. Although the con- tents of the amendment to the Patent Act have not yet been disclosed, it’s been reported that the gist of the amendment would allow the court-designated experts to collect evidence through on-site investigations.
With respect to the potential ongoing impact of COV- ID-19, there have been instances where court hear- ings were postponed, but overall, it has not had much impact on the operation of courts and court hearings. The government has not passed any legislation or issued orders suspending the operation of limitation periods due to COVID-19. 14.2 Growth Areas With the rise of private placement funds, the authors are seeing a dramatic increase in corporate manage- ment and control disputes. In 2024, there was about a 50% increase in such disputes involving domestic companies since 2023. Given that many domestic companies share a similar corporate structure and face similar risks associated with the succession of management rights, the authors expect the number of these disputes to continue to rise for the foresee- able future. Meanwhile, in the wake of several landmark deci- sions by the Supreme Court in the field of labour law, the authors are seeing a higher number of lawsuits related to ordinary wages, bonuses and subcon- tracted employees. Further, the recent introduction of the 52-hour work per week requirement, and the strengthened enforcement of the Serious Accident Prevention Act, have led to the filing of a high num- ber of related lawsuits. In fact, the authors are seeing a higher number of investigations by the Police, the Labour Commission and the Prosecutor’s Office under the Serous Accident Prevention Act to assess whether senior management should be held criminally liable for injuries or deaths resulting from serious accidents. Finally, there has been an increase in the number of criminal and civil proceedings in the field of pri- vacy law, stemming from unauthorised disclosures of personal data due to hacking and/or breakdowns in cybersecurity.
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