Service of Process on Korean-Resident Defendants
by Brendon Carr
A complementary issue to enforcement of foreign judgments, which I blogged about a few months back here on Korea Law Blog, is service of process on Korean-resident defendants. See, I do read the server logs.
Korea has acceded to the Hague Service Convention, an international treaty on the dispatch and delivery of judicial papers in civil litigation. That should make service of process easy. Except that in joining the Hague Service Convention, Korea objected to all of the elements of the treaty which would tend to make service easier—namely, service of process through postal mail, personal service, through consular officers of the litigant’s home country embassy, or service by publication. So what’s left? Well, the same means by which service is effected on Korean defendants in normal domestic litigation.
In Korea, the only party authorized to effect service of process on a defendant is the court. Service is dispatched to the defendant’s registered address by content-certified mail, by which both the fact of dispatch and the content of what’s been delivered is maintained by the post office.
So the Hague Service Convention essentially signs Korea up to a regime by which this country notifies the international community of an official address (the “Central Authority") through which papers should be routed, together with an official form (downloadable PDF), so that the Korean court could put the papers into the mails here. That address, kids, is:
Ministry of Court Administration
Attn.: Director of International Affairs
967 Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu
SEOUL 137-750, SOUTH KOREA
(Actually, the official address is “Republic of Korea” but I’ve found a lot of my own mail takes a side detour to Pyongyang in the ”Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” if it’s labelled that way. I hope the Dear Leader has enjoyed my ABA Journals. Better to use “South Korea” for something this important.)
American attorneys can dispatch service requests directly to the Ministry of Court Administration, because America designated “any attorney” as Central Authority when ratifying the treaty. Other countries’ designated Central Authorities may—probably will—be different, so it’s best to review the treaty before doing anything.
The Ministry of Court Administration directs that service be done through the Justice Department, or perhaps the Justice Department’s designated agent Process Forwarders International. But American lawyers should be aware that even if direct dispatch to MCA has worked for them in the past, the proper procedure is to go through Justice, at the state-to-state level.
There’s one wrinkle: The Hague Service Convention allows a receiving state to require that the complaint and instructions for response be translated into the official language of that state. Korea requires all judicial papers to be in the Korean language, which means you’ll be preparing a Korean-language translation for all Korean residents, even those who don’t speak Korean. An American resident in Korea who receives service of process through Hague Service Convention will receive a complaint in the Korean language.
Here’s the inevitable pitch for work: My office can make the translation for anyone serving process on a Korean-resident defendant. We also can make a pre-judgment attachment on any assets which may be found here belonging to the Korean-resident defendant, and enforce any foreign judgment which may result from the litigation outside Korea.
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Dear Attorney Carr-
I enjoyed reading your information on service of process in the Republic of Korea. I am an attorney for a company that serves process all over the world and as of late haven’t had the success with service in ROK I did when we first started sending documents over. I have decided to send the documents this time registered mail but cannot find the actual name of the person who is Director General/Director of International Affairs under the Minister of Court Administration. This is the receiving authority according to ROK’s information provided to the Hague Conference under the Hague Convention on service of process.
Any information you can provide is appreciated. If you have any questions about service elsewhere I would be happy to try to answer any questions you have.
Sincerely,
Christine Anderson
As far as I can tell the current Director General/Director of International Affairs is Park, Sung Soo. If you can read Korean, that would be 박성수(법원행정처 국제심의관), according to the February, 2008 postings announced by the Korean Supreme Court.
Thanks, leefr! You beat me to it. Judge Park may be new to that office, and getting settled in.
One of the interesting things about Korean administrative practice is how personnel are rotated so regularly, which can lead to some re-interpretations of administrative rules from time to time. Judge Park’s new staff are interpreting Hague Convention service procedures slightly differently from how some of the judges interpreted the same rules in the past.
Glad I found your site. Do you know who if Park, Sung Soo is still the current Director of International Affairs there?
Also, is “Park, Sung Soo” the correct way to address the package? Thanks!
Dear Jeff,
I would recommend your simply address to the title rather than the name. It’s the officer in that role with whom you wish to correspond, and not any particular individual.
As to whether or not the correct way to write out a Korean person’s name is “[Family Name], [Given Name]” (with a comma), “[Family Name] [Given Name]”, or [Given Name] [Family Name]”—there’s no correct answer.
Personally, I hate the use of the comma. But it’s not up to me.