Originially from: World Arbitration and Mediation Review (WAMR)

Dispute Resolution in the Republic of Korea:  A General Overview
By Tae Hee Lee, Esq., Senior Partner, Law Offices of Lee & Ko,
Seoul, Korea. This paper was originally presented to the Inter Pacific Bar
Association Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Committee in May 1995.
I. Introduction
Although avoidance of disputes is always a priority, as a practical
matter it is important to prepare methods of dispute resolution which are
efficient and economical. Methods for solving disputes all have the
objective of reaching an agreement between the disputing parties to
terminate the dispute through a mutual concession or, if mutual concession
is not successful, a litigation enforced by a judicial institution. However,
the prospects of an expensive and time-consuming traditional type of
litigation has prompted an effort to more efficiently facilitate an agreement
between parties to resolve the disputes through the assistance of
administrative or judicial institutions, which effort has spawned various
alternative dispute resolution methods.
We will review the methods for solving disputes currently
available in Korea by examining various alternative dispute resolution
methods first, before turning to the general commercial litigation method
in Korea.
II. Alternative Dispute Resolution
Generally, three kinds of alternative dispute resolution are
available in Korea: compromise, mediation and arbitration. Each of these
dispute resolution procedures can be carried out in Korea with the
assistance of programs or systems maintained by governmental bodies or
independent associations.
A. Compromise
The compromise is a kind of contract reached by a voluntary
agreement between parties to terminate the dispute through mutual
concession. Such a compromise can voluntarily solve a dispute most
quickly and constitutes the most basic form of alternative dispute
resolution. Depending on whether the Court intervenes during the
compromise, the compromise may be divided into a contractual