What procedure must one go through to divorce a foreigner?

Hello. This is an attorney specializing in divorce at Daeryun Law LLC.

Since a divorce with a foreigner involves a marital relationship containing an international element, it must be carried out after comprehensively reviewing the court with jurisdiction, the applicable law, and whether the other party's whereabouts are known.

First, as in your case, if the marriage is registered but the spouse left home immediately after the marriage and has been out of contact for a long time, it may constitute malicious desertion under the Civil Act or a grave cause making it difficult to continue the marriage.

To divorce, you would settle the marital relationship through a judicial divorce procedure rather than a divorce by agreement.

The part that people worry about most in a divorce with a foreigner is “whether a divorce is possible in a Korean court,” and in principle, if even one of the spouses has a domicile or residence in the Republic of Korea and the substantial relevance of the marital life is in Korea, a Korean court can have jurisdiction.

If you reside in Korea and the marriage was also registered in Korea, even in a divorce with a foreigner, it is possible to file a divorce suit with a Korean family court.

In addition, even if the other party is abroad or their whereabouts are unclear, divorce is not impossible.

Through a procedure called service by public notice, the court can proceed with the trial by deeming that the other party has been notified that the litigation is underway.

In fact, in cases where, after an international marriage, the spouse returned to their home country or cut off contact, there are quite a few cases in which a divorce judgment was obtained through service by public notice.

However, in a divorce with a foreigner, ▲the possibility of nullity or annulment of the marriage, ▲the other party's purpose in marrying, ▲problems in the international marriage brokerage process, and ▲the possibility of a connection to residence status or immigration issues also need to be reviewed together.

In particular, if there are circumstances suggesting that there was no intention to marry from the outset, a claim of annulment or nullity of the marriage, rather than divorce, may also become a subject of review.

To divorce, beyond simply proceeding with the procedure, it is important to accurately establish in advance the jurisdiction, the applicable law, and the method of service.

In your matter, there is ample room to pursue a judicial divorce in a Korean court, and even if contact with the other party is cut off, it is procedurally possible to conclude the divorce.

Given the nature of international cases, if the jurisdiction, applicable law, and method of service are not accurately established from the early stage, the procedure can become prolonged, so if you wish to divorce a foreigner, it is advisable to proceed strategically with the assistance of an attorney specializing in divorce.

Daeryun, the 9th-largest law firm in Korea (based on 2025 value-added tax filings with the National Tax Service), provides trust-based legal services.