International Child Abduction in Korea: Removing a Child Back to the Country of Residence of the Custodial Parent via the Korean Courts Explained

On March 1, 2013, South Korea adopted and ratified The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (concluded 25 October 1980). The main goal of the Hague Child Abduction Convention is to protect children under the age of 16 from being illegally removed or wrongfully retained in a signatory state. The Hague Child Abduction Treaty, in short, empowers courts and the government to mandate a parent to return an abducted child to the nation of the child’s habitual residence.

IPG Legal handled the most noteworthy child abduction cases under the Hague Child Abduction Convention and prevailed in this Korean Child Abduction case. The case and the efforts of IPG Legal led to substantial changes to the Korean legal system. We, believe, we have handled successfully the greatest number of Hague Child Abduction Cases in the history of Korea.

Return of Abducted Children from Korea to Habitual Residence

In the event that your child/children were abducted to South Korea. You should, immediately:

• Hire a Korean law firm with experience dealing with Hague Child Abduction cases for non-Korean national parents.
• Immediately read the article: What to Do if Your Child is Abducted to Korea?
• Your lawyer, in Korea, should in most cases, file for assistance to the Ministry of Justice of Korea and your nation’s government in order to locate the whereabouts of the child, facilitate administrative proceedings, and ensure the safe return of the abducted child.
• Your Korean lawyer should file a case, in most cases, for the return of the child to the Seoul Family Court (sole jurisdiction over international abduction cases).
• Your Korean lawyer may, also, file for preliminary injunctive relief and ask that the abducting parent be prevented from taking any other action that shall further be detrimental to the welfare of the child, including removing the child to a third country.
• In some cases, your attorney in Korea may advise that you file a criminal complaint at the commencement or during the matter (Article 287 or Article 288 of Criminal Act of Korea).

The major thing that is necessary is to act quickly. You must retain an expert in international child abduction in Korea – immediately. Timing requirements under the Treaty require prompt action. Korean courts handle very few Child Abduction Cases under the Hague Convention of Child Abduction and, thus, lawyers with experience play a major part in educating the courts on the proper application of this treaty.

IPG Legal is happy to have successfully handled and resolved numerous Child Abduction Cases in Korea. We, recently, received a decision for a client that the abducting Korean mother should return the children of the marriage to the American father and a case in which a mother was ordered imprisoned for non-compliance with the Korean court order of return of the child. We handle cases, normally, in coordination with lawyers abroad and we have a network of great lawyers that we have worked with in California, New York, and throughout much of Europe.

by Sean Hayes

Sean Hayes is the first non-Korean attorney to have worked for the Korean court system (Constitutional Court of Korea) and one of the first non-Koreans to be a regular member of a Korean law faculty. Sean is ranked, for Korea, as one of only a few non-Korean lawyers as a Top Attorney by AsiaLaw. Sean is regularly quoted by leading international media sources, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, France 24, and Bloomberg.

IPG Legal is consistently ranked a Top Dispute Resolution Law Firm for our litigation, arbitration, and mediation services, and IPG Legal is consistently rated a top-tier law firm in corporate law, litigation, arbitration, franchise law, distribution law, estate law, family law, employment & labor law, and criminal defense.

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