Divorce by mediation in South Korea is a preferred method of separation. Article 840 of the Civil Act of Korea stipulates the following. Article 840 (Causes for Judicial Divorce) Either husband or wife may apply to the Family Court for divorce in each case of the followings:
Divorce by mediation in South Korea is a preferred method of separation. Article 840 of the Civil Act of Korea stipulates the following. Article 840 (Causes for Judicial Divorce) Either husband or wife may apply to the Family Court for divorce in each case of the followings:
1. If the other spouse has committed an act of unchastity;
2. If one spouse has been maliciously deserted by the other spouse;
3. If one spouse has been extremely maltreated by the other spouse or his or her lineal ascendants;
4. If one spouse’s lineal ascendant has been extremely maltreated by the other spouse;
5. If the death or life of the other spouse has been unknown for 3 years;
6. If there exists any other serious cause for making it difficult to continue the marriage.
Therefore, in order for a Korean divorce lawyer to help you get divorced by trial under the Korean Family Law, you have to meet at least one of the requirements above.
‘Unchastity of a spouse’ does not necessarily mean an act of cheating. To be specific, in the case where the spouse said to another person “I love you and want to be yours. I want to hold your hand until the day I die”, “I like you.”, “I want to go out with you.”, “I love you.”, etc., with a witness seeing that spouse kissing that other person and calling 394 times, the court ruled that such conduct can be regarded as an act of unchastity and therefore, constitute a ground for divorce to a Korean divorce lawyer. The statute of limitations for this fact is 6 months from the day another spouse found out about the act of unchastity or 2 years from the day it took place.
This ground is applicable when one of the spouses neglects his or her obligation to live as a couple, support and cooperate with each other without any justifiable cause and abandons the other spouse. In the following case, where “a defendant neglected the duty to raise his child with a disability, got carried away with dancing and left home being absent 3 times, each occasion of absence lasting from 10 days to a month; then he received forgiveness from the plaintiff, but within 2 years he ran away again. The plaintiff asked for a divorce, but the defendant refused, so the plaintiff ended up leaving her house and becoming a nun, which led to their separation lasting for over 10 years.”, the Supreme Court ruled that a divorce is possible on the ground of malicious desertion.
4. If one spouse’s lineal ascendant has been extremely maltreated by the other spouse;
The Supreme Court defined this ground in one of its cases, stating that “coercion to continue the marriage is when a person assaults, abuses or insults another to the extent when it can be regarded as really cruel or severe”.
Such a situation may happen when nobody knows whether the spouse in question is alive or not. This period starts from the time when it can be proved that he or she was alive, from the moment of the last contact with him or her. If it has been unknown for more than 5 years whether a spouse is alive or dead, according to Article 27 of the Civil Act and Article 53 of the Family Procedure Act, after undergoing the process of judicial declaration of disappearance and public summons, it becomes possible that the marriage is dissolved and from that time on the disappeared spouse will be considered dead.
For this ground to be valid for divorce, a spouse will have to file for divorce within 6 months starting from when he or she found out about the reason that renders the continuation of marriage impossible or within 2 years starting from the day when such a reason appeared.
