SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jin Yeong Chung, Inhak Lee and Seung Hyeon Lee, Kim & Chang
7. Trials and Hearings 7.1 Trial Proceedings
are increasingly encouraging oral testimony at hearings, highlighting the benefits of oral argu- ments. Nevertheless, written submissions and documentary evidence still hold great impor- tance in the court. Once the hearing is closed, the court will sched- ule 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 parties 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 sched- uled dates from time to time. The court usually allows such changes as long as it is not deemed 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. Mem- bers of the public participate in the hearings of the criminal proceedings and can offer a collec- tive opinion on the verdict of the criminal case. The court, however, is not bound by their opin- ion. 7.4 Rules That Govern Admission of Evidence There are no strict rules on admissibility of evi- dence in civil action in Korea. to be an undue delay of the case. 7.3 Jury Trials in Civil Cases
A civil action begins with the plaintiff filing a complaint 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 defendant. There is no set timeframe for subsequent written sub- missions; the parties are free to make additional written submissions and file exhibits until close of the hearing. Preparatory Hearing 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 proceed- ings. 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 closing 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 provide oral testimony at the hearing, although, in some cases, the court may allow a witness/expert to provide 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
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