SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Byung Chang Lee, D&A LLC
whether to issue an order based on the application requesting document production. However, unlike with the adversely affected party, a third party is not required to submit requested doc - uments and there is no sanction for not disclosing requested documents. This procedure is only avail - able during the main lawsuit, and is generally not permitted before the commencement of proceedings unless there is a necessity for preserving important evidence. Recently, in cases filed abroad, when relevant evi - dence exists in Korea, there are instances where domestic courts are requested to co-operate in the investigation of evidence in accordance with the Hague Evidence Convention. Request for Information In order to prove specific facts during litigation, the method of request for information to a third party is also widely used in Korea. A party who wants to use it should file a request for information form with the court, specifying the reason for filing the request. Similar to a document production request, a request for information to a third party issued by the court does not have a mandatory effect on the third party; therefore, even if the third party does not reply to the request, there is no specified sanction. 2.4 Procedural Orders Cases Where an Ex Parte Hearing is Permitted An ex parte hearing is only possible in some provi - sional measures in Korea. For example, a preliminary attachment order can be issued without a hearing based on the application and supporting evidence submitted by the creditor, and then the order will be served on the debtor and any related third party. Addi - tionally, some preliminary injunction orders to preserve present conditions can be issued without a hearing procedure. Typically, the court requests that the claim - ant deposit cash or a payment guarantee policy in order to compensate for the plausible damages of the intended defendant. The debtor may file an objection with the court against the preliminary attachment order or preliminary injunc -
tion order made without a hearing, and can apply for re-examination by a hearing procedure. For a preliminary injunction that determines a tem - porary status, a hearing date is generally designated because it has a huge impact on the person con - cerned. 2.5 Criminal Redress Based on the Criminal Victim Protection Act, victims of fraud can seek redress against the perpetrator through a criminal mediation procedure. However, most victims of fraud file a separate tort claim against the perpetrator during or concurrently with the crimi - nal procedure. Also, criminal prosecution investigation does not delay the progression of a parallel civil claim. It is up to the judge whether or not to wait and see regarding the result through criminal prosecution or a criminal hearing, and generally civil court judges have a tendency to wait for any criminal result before decid - ing the civil claim case. Facts and evidence admitted in the relevant criminal cases are admissible in civil cases unless there are special circumstances to rule them out. 2.6 Judgment Without Trial Default Judgment There is a sort of default judgment procedure in Korea where a defendant does not submit an answer within 30 days after the service date of complaint; howev - er, it is up to the judge whether the court renders a default judgment or not. Generally, the judge waits for the filing of the answer, and, even where the default judgment date is appointed, if the defendant files an answer before the designated judgment date, the civil procedure will resume without the default judgment. Application for a Payment Order If the claimant does not want a full trial, then there is the option of applying for a payment order, which is a simple litigation procedure through the court’s pay - ment order. When the claimant files an application for a payment order with some supporting evidence with the court, the court reviews the application and issues a payment order requesting the debtor to pay the claim amount without requesting additional evi -
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