The Glory and Korean Law (1) – Divorce by Agreement in Prison

In the Republic of Korea, the procedure of divorce by agreement is simple and quick compared to the ones in other countries. If both parties agree on the terms of divorce, it is possible to complete the process without a lawyer’s involvement. The key point of divorce by agreement is that both parties should fill out an application form and submit it to the court and both parties should attend the court after cooling off period (one month for a couple without a minor child, and three months for a couple having a minor child) so as to confirm their intention to divorce in front of the judge.

Image Source – Netflix.com

Then, how can it be done when a party is in Jail? Yeonjin in ‘The Glory’, one of the Netflix series, is in prison for murder, and his husband wanted to get divorced by agreement with her. He visited the prison to see her and ask her to sign the form of divorce by agreement. However, he didn’t have to go to prison to have the form signed by her. If one party is in prison and the other party submits an application for divorce by agreement to the court, the court will send the request to the prison to check whether the party in prison intends to divorce as well. And then the other party who submitted the form will attend the court alone to confirm his or her intention to divorce after the court receives the confirmation to divorce from the party in prison. Also, I have one last tip for Mr. Ha. Please do not forget to register your divorce to the local office within three months from the date when you receive the copy of the confirmation of divorce by the judge. If you miss the deadline, your divorce will not be legally effective and you should go through the process again.