My Korean wife moved to the US and ignores every message about our divorce — can I get a judgment in Korea without her participating?

Yes. A Korean court can divorce you without her participation. Her silence does not stop the case; it only changes how the documents reach her and how long that takes. Once she is validly served in the US and does not answer, the court may proceed without her and decide the case on your petition and evidence — that is what a default judgment is in this context, and it is a real judgment, not a technicality. Silence is not agreement; it is absence, and the court fills the absence with your evidence. The joint account is divided as marital property whether she participates or not.

Can you divorce in Korea, and under which law

Korean courts have jurisdiction under Article 56 of the Act on Private International Law (국제사법, gukje sabeop): you habitually reside in Korea and she is a Korean national. Korean law applies under Article 66 — and note that her being abroad does not remove the "Korean national" limb. The route is judicial divorce (재판상 이혼, jaepansang ihon) under Article 840 of the Civil Act: two years apart, one year of refusing all communication about the marriage, and a marriage that exists only on paper is pleaded under the sixth ground — a serious reason making it difficult to continue the marriage — with malicious desertion argued alongside.

Serving a spouse in the US

Korea and the US are both parties to the Hague Service Convention. The court transmits the petition through the US central authority to her address, and service is completed under US procedure — commonly by a process server or by mail with proof of delivery. Because she is a Korean national, there is a second channel: service through the Korean consulate with jurisdiction over her US address, which can be faster where the recipient will sign for the documents. A recipient who refuses to accept can delay but not defeat service; the court records the attempts and, where the address is confirmed and she is evading, may permit service by public notice (공시송달, gongsi songdal) as a last resort. Her sister's confirmation of the address is useful; a returned envelope with "refused" on it is, in a sense, useful too.

Realistic timing: three to six months for service through the Convention, sometimes longer; add the answer period the court sets for a respondent abroad. Mediation (조정, jojeong) is formally required, but a respondent who does not appear ends it at the first date, and the case moves to trial.

What a "default" judgment is

If she is validly served and files no answer (답변서, dapbyeonseo), the court may enter judgment without a hearing (무변론 판결, mubyeollon pangyeol) or, in a divorce case, proceed to hear your evidence at a hearing she does not attend and rule on it. The judgment is then served on her in the same way; the appeal period runs; and the divorce becomes final. It is reported to the family register and is recognizable abroad on the same footing as any other Korean judgment — a point that matters if she or you ever need it recognized in the US, where courts look for proof that the absent party was properly served. Keep every service document.

Children, property and support

No children. Property division (재산분할, jaesan bunhal) is claimed in the petition; the joint savings account is marital property to be divided by contribution, and the court will divide it on your evidence if she does not contest. Her claim does not vanish because she ignored the case — the court decides her share too — but her share is what the evidence supports, and evidence of your contributions is what you will have on file. A provisional attachment (가압류, gaapnyu) on the joint account is prudent if you fear she will empty it once served.

Consolation money (위자료, wijaryo) for desertion is available in principle; enforcing an award against someone in the US is a separate step under US law.

What this means for your stay in Korea

Nothing; your E-7 is tied to your job.

Practical insight

Cases against a silent spouse abroad are lost by impatience and won by paperwork. The petitioners who fail are the ones who file without a verified address, get a returned envelope, and start over; the ones who succeed had the address confirmed, the consular channel ready as a second route, and the account attached before the first envelope went out. The other error is the joint account: a spouse who has "not touched it" for a year will touch it the week she is served.

Send us her US address, the marriage certificate and the account details, and we can start the attachment and the service package together — by text consultation or at +82-2-522-3959.

— MEGA X Law Firm Korea, International Family Law Team