Recognition and enforcement of judgments between China, Japan and South Korea in the new era: South Korean Law perspective

• Author: Recognition and enforcement of judgments between China, Japan and South Korea in the new era: South Korean Law perspective
• Pages: 171-201

FRONTIERS OF LAW IN CHINA

VOL. 13 JUNE 2018 NO. 2

DOI 10.3868/s050-007-018-0013-7

FOCUS

RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS BETWEEN CHINA, JAPAN

AND SOUTH KOREA IN THE NEW ERA

RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS BETWEEN CHINA, JAPAN

AND SOUTH KOREA IN THE NEW ERA: SOUTH KOREAN LAW PERSPECTIVE

Kwang Hyun SUK*

Abstract This article discusses the rules for recognition and enforcement of foreign

judgments in the Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as “South Korea” or

“Korea”). Articles 217 and 217-2 of the Civil Procedure Act of Korea and Articles 26

and 27 of the Civil Enforcement Act of Korea provide for the recognition and

enforcement of foreign judgments respectively. Korea has not entered into any bilateral

or multilateral treaties regarding the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments

and is not a party to the Convention on Choice of Court Agreements. The article also

considers the current undesirable status of recognition and enforcement of judgments in

the region consisting of China, Japan and South Korea (hereinafter referred to as

“Region”) and suggests a course of action to be taken to improve the situation. The

author believes that the experts of the Region should embark upon a project to improve

the current situation and that the first step should be to exchange and gather information

on the current legal regime of the countries in the Region on the recognition and

enforcement of judgments. The author looks forward to future cooperation among the

experts in the Region on this topic and is confident that the reciprocity requirement,

which currently is a major obstacle to the mutual recognition and enforcement of foreign

judgments in the Region, will be overcome in the near future.

Keywords recognition, foreign judgments, reciprocity, jurisdiction

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 172

* Kwang Hyun SUK, Ph.D. in law, College of Law, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea;

Professor of School of Law, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea. Contact: khsuk@snu.ac.kr

This article is based on my presentation on December 19, 2017 at the Seminar on “Recognition and

Enforcement of Judgments between China, Japan and South Korea in the New Era” held at Renmin

University, Beijing, China. For more information on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in

Korea, please refer to Kwang Hyun Suk, Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in the Republic

of Korea, 15 Yearbook of Private International Law, 421 et seq (2013/2014), and Kwang Hyun Suk, Country

Report: South Korea, in Adeline Chong ed. Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Asia, The

Asian Business Law Institute (Singapore), at 179 et seq (2017).

172 FRONTIERS OF LAW IN CHINA [Vol. 13: 171

I. KOREAN LAW REGIME ON THE RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN

JUDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. 173

A. Conditions for Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments................ 173

1. Judgments Entitled to Recognition................................................................ 174

2. Jurisdiction Requirement............................................................................... 176

3. Service of Process.......................................................................................... 184

4. Public Policy Test.......................................................................................... 186

5. Reciprocity Requirement............................................................................... 189

B. Examination of Conditions for Recognition...................................................... 190

C. Effects of Recognition of Foreign Judgment ..................................................... 191

1. Automatic Recognition and General Effects of Foreign Judgment................ 191

2. Res Judicata Effect........................................................................................ 191

3. Partial Recognition of Foreign Judgment...................................................... 192

D. Enforcement of Foreign Judgment ....................................................................192

1. Prerequisites for Enforcement Judgment (Exequatur) ...................................192

2. Procedure for Enforcement Judgment ...........................................................192

II. CURRENT STATUS OF RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN JUDGMENTS

AMONG CHINA, JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA............................................................ 193

A. Between South Korea and Japan....................................................................... 193

B. Between South Korea and China....................................................................... 194

1. Current Situation............................................................................................ 194

2. Evaluation of the Chinese Judgment and the South Korean Judgments on the

Existence of Reciprocity and Proposal for Future......................................... 197

C. Between China and Japan................................................................................. 198

III. COURSE OF ACTION TO BE TAKEN TO FURTHER RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT

OF FOREIGN JUDGMENTS AMONG CHINA, JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA: SOUTH

KOREAN LAW PERSPECTIVE.................................................................................. 198

A. Options Available.............................................................................................. 199

B. Unilateral Action by China ...............................................................................199

C. Execution of Treaty among China, Japan and South Korea ............................. 200

D. Prerequisites: Necessity and Importance of Exchange of Information in the

Region............................................................................................................... 200

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................ 201

INTRODUCTION

This article discusses the rules for recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments

in the Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as “South Korea” or “Korea”). The

recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments is governed by the relevant provisions

in the Civil Procedure Act of Korea1 (hereinafter referred to as “KCPA”) and the Civil

1 Civil Procedure Act (Act No. 12882, Dec. 30, 2014).