SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Sihoon Yang, Young Min Kim, Jung Mo Hong and Douglas Hwang, Yoon & Yang LLC
Implementation of the Online Labor Relations Commission The Labor Relations Commission has recently intro - duced an electronic system for their dispute resolu - tion procedures. The Labor Relations Commission is currently in the process of expanding the application of such electronic system to document submissions and virtual examinations. As recently as 2023, as a principle, all documents (eg, complaints, answers and exhibits) had to be delivered via postal or courier ser - vices, and parties were required to attend examina - tions and hearings in person. However, with the introduction of the electronic sys - tem, parties can now file responses and briefs in electronic document format via the Labor Relations Commission’s website. Moreover, as of June 2024, the National Commission has begun conducting video hearings for the re-examination of cases under its jurisdiction, and it plans to gradually implement video conferencing systems at the Local Commis - sions nationwide. Furthermore, the Labor Relations Commission has recently launched the Artificial Intel - ligence Digital Labor Relations Commission project, which utilises digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), in dispute resolution processes. Start - ing from June 2026, digital dispute resolution services, such as online case filing, electronic service of docu - ments and AI-based consultation, are expected to be made available. Once the AI Digital Labor Relations Commission is fully operational, it is anticipated that the parties will experience increased convenience in all aspects of the dispute resolution procedure, including filing peti - tions, submitting documents and attending hearings.
By contrast, in South Korea, class actions take the form of a “multiparty litigation” in accordance with the Civil Procedures Act, and multiple plaintiffs file a lawsuit as a single “group”. In other words, in South Korean class actions, only the individuals who are named as a party to the litigation are compensated or redressed. With certain exceptions under Article 87 of the Civil Procedures Act, only lawyers may represent employ - ees before the court. 9.2 Alternative Dispute Resolution Employment and other related disputes between employers and employees may be resolved privately through arbitrations, mediations and settlements. Moreover, such disputes may also be resolved through arbitrations, mediations and settlements administered by the court and the Local Commission. Under the principle of private autonomy (ie, freedom of contract), pre-dispute arbitration agreements regard - ing disputes relating to working conditions, etc, are effective in principle if they are included in the employ - ment contracts. At the same time, labour laws (includ - ing the Labor Standards Act) are considered manda - tory provisions that cannot be avoided via contracts. Therefore, any agreement that excludes such labour law provisions – or is less favourable to employees compared with labour law provisions – is invalid. 9.3 Costs Article 98 of the Civil Procedures Act imposes the cost of the lawsuit upon the losing party. As such, the los - ing party is – in principle – responsible for the litigation fees. Conversely, attorney’s fees are divided between the parties in accordance with Article 3 of the Rules on Calculation of the Attorney’s Fees.
9. Dispute Resolution 9.1 Litigation
Class actions in South Korea are different from class actions in common law jurisdictions, where they are initiated by a few plaintiffs who represent a class of individuals, and damages are awarded even to indi - viduals within the class who did not participate in the class action – provided that such individuals were not otherwise excluded.
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