Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.2 Asia: Coordinated by Yuko Nishitani and Béligh Elbalti, 37 South Korea: South Korean Perspectives on the Hague Principles

Abstract

This chapter studies South Korean perspectives on the Hague Principles. Korea has enacted choice of law rules for courts in litigation and choice of law rules for arbitral tribunals. The former are set forth in the Private International Law Act of Korea (KPILA) and the latter in the Arbitration Act of Korea (KAA). The single most important Korean legislation on private international law is the KPILA, which mainly consists of provisions on applicable law and on international jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters. As for the KAA, it was modelled on the 1985 Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), and further amended in 2016 in order to reflect the amendments adopted in 2006 to the UNCITRAL Model Arbitration Law. Since Korea has detailed choice of law rules for courts and arbitral tribunals, the role which could be played by the Hague Principles in Korea will be very limited. Korean courts could use them for reference in the interpretation, supplementation, and/or development of applicable rules of choice of law regarding matters not covered by the choice of law rules of the KPILA.