Applicable Laws

The primary source of law regarding the civil litigation procedure is the Code of Civil Procedure, which was enacted in 1960 and revised extensively in 1990.

Institution of Action

The filing of a complaint in a court by either the plaintiff or the attorney thereof initiates an action. The complaint must state the names of the parties and legal representatives, the demand for relief, and the legal grounds for the claimals

Proceeding

Upon receiving a complaint, the presiding judge will set a date for a hearing and will summon the parties to appear. The parties may appear in person or by counsel. They can only be represented in court by licensed attorneys, except as otherwise provided by law. Each party is responsible for presenting evidence in support of its arguments. The judge may refer the case to a conciliation proceeding if it is deemed appropriate.
The trial is not conducted continuously, but may be held in a series of hearings, often two or three weeks apart. However, trials tend to be concluded more quickly than in the courts of any other country. The average duration of first instance trials is about 6 months before a panel of judges and about 2.5 months before a single judge. It is noteworthy that the fact-finding authority is vested exclusively in the judge

Judgment

At the end of the trial, the judge enters a written judgment stating the reasons for the decision.
A judgment is not enforceable until it becomes final. However, the court may declare a judgment provisionally enforceable

Appeal

A party who is dissatisfied with the judgment of a single judge on any question of fact or law may appeal to the appellate division of the District Court. An appeal against the judgment of a panel of three judges of the District Court is lodged with a High court. Appeals against the rulings or judgments of either the High Court or the appellate division of the District Court must be filed with the Supreme Court, where only questions of law may be heard.
For more expeditious and simpler procedures for the settlement of small claims actions, civil cases involving claims not exceeding 20,000,000 Won (equivalent to about USŁ¤ 18,000) are brought as small claims trials. In such trials, the plaintiff can institute an action by making an oral statement to the court clerk instead of filing a written petition to the court. The court clerk must then put such statement on record and notify the defendant. Strict rules of evidence and procedure are waived to a considerable extent in a small claims trial. Even if the judge must give a written judgment at the end of a hearing, the judge is not required to state the reasons in writing.
The number of small claims actions has greatly increased since the enactment of this legislation, amounting to 74.6 percent of all civil cases in 1999

From Supreme Court of Korea <http://www.scourt.go.kr>