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Divorce

Consular officers are prohibited by law from advising citizens on particular legal matters.

ACS does maintain a list of practitioners to assist American citizens in locating an attorney. The list is not meant to be an exhaustive one, or to be construed as the U.S. Embassy's endorsement or recommendation for any particular attorney. Please follow this link for the Embassy's lawyers list.

How do I obtain a record of my Korean divorce?

If the divorce was reported after January 1, 2008
Legal documentation of a divorce is provided in the following three documents:  the individual’s identification certificate (Gibbon jeungmyongseo), the Family relation certificate (Gajokkwankye jeungmyongseo), and the Marriage relation certificate (Honinkwankye jeungmyongseo). These three documents can be requested from the ward office in which a divorce was registered. Individuals should submit their requests directly to the ward office. Contact information for different government offices, ward offices and city halls can be found at http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en/kr.html. For information on the new Family Relation Register (FRR), please click here. Should you wish to contact the Seoul Family Court directly they can be contacted by phone at 02-530-2462 or 02-530-2463.

If the divorce was reported before January 1, 2008, the former Family Census Register (FCR) is still available as an archived Family Relation Register (Jejeok Deung-Bon). This document is organized under the name of the “Head of Family.” The FCR records personal information for the “Head of Family” and all related family members and contains information concerning birth, marriage, divorce, adoption, death, and other family history. This document can be requested directly by individuals at any ward office. Contact information for different government offices, ward offices and city halls can be found at http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en/kr.html. Should you wish to contact the Seoul Family Court directly they can be contacted by phone at 02-530-2462 or 02-530-2463.

If your former spouse remarried, or your former spouse’s family of origin has changed, or divorce was filed and granted before January 1, 2008, you may also apply for a Certificate for Registration of Divorce (Yi-hon Soori jeungmyungseo.)  A Certificate for Registration of Divorce includes the names and dates of birth of the parties to the divorce, the date that the divorce was filed and the date that the divorce was granted. In Korea there is no equivalent of a “divorce decree” issued by a court of law in the United States. Rather, the Certificate for Registration of Divorce is issued by a registrar in the local ward office and serves as documentation of a divorce. The Certificate for Registration of Divorce is issued in the Korean language only. If you require an English translation for use in the United States or elsewhere, you will need to make your own arrangements through a local attorney to obtain a translated copy.  The basic processing fee for each certificate is 1,000KRW and postal cost. The Certificate for Registration of Divorce (Yi-hon Soori jeungmyungseo) can only be obtained at the actual ward office where the divorce was registered.

• The Embassy cannot obtain a copy of your divorce decree for you, nor can we translate your divorce decree. The Embassy maintains no records of Americans' marriages and divorces in Korea.
• For general information from the Department of State on divorcing while abroad, please follow this link.

You may also wish to contact the Seoul Global Center for assistance at http://global.seoul.go.kr or Email: hotline@seoul.go.kr or hotline@sba.seoul.kr
Information desk: 02-1688-0120

The Seoul Global Center for Foreigners is a locally-sponsored organization developed to assist foreigners in Korea. 

Family Relation Register (FRR)

Effective January 1, 2008, new forms of family register certificates are issued by the government offices, Ward offices, City halls, Myun offices, Eup offices, and Dong offices throughout the country when the individual and his/her immediate family members (parents, children, or spouse) apply for the issuance of these certificates. You may apply for one or all of these Family Relation Registers (FRR) for your previous spouse in person.

The new Family Relation Register (FRR) is issued for each individual member of a family to protect personal information. According to the purpose of issuance, the certificates of family relation registers can be classified into five categories:

1. Identification certificate (Gibon jeungmyongseo)
2. Family relation certificate (Gajokkwankye jeungmyongseo)
3. Marriage relation certificate (Honinkwankye jeungmyongseo
4. Adoption relation certificate (Ipyangkwankye jeungmyongseo
5. Special adoption relation certificate (Chinyangja ipyangkwankye jeungmyongseo)

Please note that the Family Relation Register certificate of family relation shows names of spouse, parents (including adoptive parents), and children (including adopted children) based on current family relationship. The Identification certificate shows only the individual’s date of birth, place of birth, current and any former names, and death. The Marriage Relation certificate provides information on the individual’s marital status only.

For American Citizen Services (ACS) inquiries, please e-mail us at seoulinfoacs@state.gov.

If you are an American citizen with an after hours emergency, please call us at 82-2-397-4114.  If you have access to DSN, please call 721-4114.

For more information on how to contact us, please click here.


Updated: March 9, 2012