| Nationality | Vietnam |
| Case Overview | After the client's Vietnamese spouse unilaterally returned to her home country shortly after marriage and became unreachable, the client filed a lawsuit seeking divorce and compensation for damages. |
| Special Circumstances | The case involved a situation where the spouse left for her home country immediately after the marriage and cut off all contact. As a result, the divorce and damages claim were carried out through public notice service. |
| Case Handler | Kiho Lee |
| Outcome | The court granted the divorce and ordered the spouse to pay 10 million KRW in damages. |
1.Client Situation and Facts
The client, a South Korean national, entered into a marriage in 2013 with a Vietnamese woman through an international marriage agency and officially registered the marriage. However, just two months after the wedding, the spouse unilaterally left the country without any notice, stating that she would return to her home country. Since then, all contact was completely lost, leaving the client in a state of severe confusion and emotional distress. As time passed with no information about the spouse’s whereabouts or even whether she was alive, the client came to the conclusion that maintaining the marriage was no longer possible. The client then entrusted the case to Majung Law Firm to pursue divorce and a claim for damages.
2. Case Issues and Resolution Process
1) We argued that the spouse’s unilateral abandonment clearly constituted grounds for judicial divorce. The client’s spouse returned to her home country without just cause approximately two months after the marriage and cut off all contact, effectively ending the marital relationship. We asserted that this made the spouse primarily responsible for the breakdown of the marriage, thereby clearly satisfying the legal grounds for divorce. 2) We emphasized that the legal proceedings were properly conducted through public notice service. As the spouse’s whereabouts could not be determined, the client made sincere efforts to locate her, including immigration record checks and attempts to trace her location. The court acknowledged that the requirements for public notice service had been met and deemed that the complaint was legally and properly delivered. As a result, despite the spouse’s absence, the lawsuit proceeded lawfully and its legitimacy was fully upheld. 3) We emphasized that the claim for damages due to the marital breakdown was justified. The client suffered severe emotional distress as a result of the spouse’s unilateral departure and loss of contact, leading to the effective collapse of the marriage. We argued that, considering the circumstances of the breakdown, the spouse’s fault, and the extent of the client’s suffering, the claim for compensation was legally valid and met all requirements for a civil damages claim.3. Case Outcome
Through Majung’s systematic and proactive legal response, the court recognized the spouse’s unilateral return to her home country and complete loss of contact as clear grounds for the breakdown of the marriage, and accordingly granted the client a divorce judgment. Furthermore, by taking into account the emotional distress suffered by the client and the overall circumstances leading to the collapse of the marriage—which were attributed to the spouse’s fault—the court ordered the payment of 10 million KRW in damages. As a result, the client was able to not only legally end the marriage, but also receive meaningful compensation.
4. Significance of Judgement
This case carries significant precedential value, demonstrating that even when a spouse unilaterally returns to their home country and cuts off all contact after an international marriage, it is still possible to obtain a divorce and claim damages—provided that sufficient evidence and proper legal procedures are in place. When preparing for a divorce lawsuit, mere assertions are not enough. Objective evidence—such as immigration records, call logs, and documentation proving the spouse’s unknown whereabouts—is crucial to proving the breakdown of the marriage. In particular, when the other party’s location cannot be confirmed, the public notice service procedure must be utilized. However, this process involves strict requirements and complex procedures, making it difficult for individuals to handle on their own. Moreover, divorce proceedings involving a foreign spouse are often legally and procedurally complex, with numerous variables. Therefore, the most efficient and stable approach is to seek legal assistance from the outset and respond strategically with the guidance of an experienced legal professional.
