Arbitration in Korea under the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board: International Arbitration Rules

Before the revision of the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board’s International Arbitration Rules, all cases submitted to the board under arbitration clauses that did not specify “International Arbitration Rules” govern the arbitration -would lead to the local arbitration rules being applied and the language of the arbitration being Korean. For additional articles on arbitration in Korea, please see: IPG Legal’s Arbitration Law Archive.

Arbitration Clauses in Agreements in Korea

A client who was working with one of the other law firms in Korea became entangled in this issue. Fortunately, we were able to amend a joint venture agreement (which had been amended for various reasons) to account for the potential disadvantage that could have arisen if arbitration had been required. Many foreign companies, before this amendment, quickly realized that they hired attorneys who were not aware that the local arbitration rules would apply.

We recommend, always, having multiple internationally-experienced attorneys looking at your agreements or you, also, may be stuck with an agreement that may not adequately protect your interests.

Sean Hayes is co-chair of the Korea Practice Team at IPG Legal. He is the only non-Korean to have worked as an attorney 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.

You may schedule an initial free consultation with our Attorney at: Schedule a Call with an Attorney in Korea.