I left Korea two years ago and just received Korean court papers at my home in Canada — do I have to respond?

The drawer is the wrong place for it. A Korean court can hear a claim arising from a lease in Korea regardless of where you now live, and if you do not respond, it can enter judgment on the landlord's version of events. That judgment would attach to your Korean bank account, to anything you later earn in Korea, and — through recognition proceedings — potentially to assets in Canada. You do not have to fly to Seoul to defend it, and on the facts you describe, this is a defensible case. The deadline, however, is the first thing to work out.

What this is under Korean law

A landlord's claim for damage and unpaid charges is a contractual claim under the lease, subject to the Civil Act and the Housing Lease Protection Act (주택임대차보호법, jutaek imdaecha boho-beop). The burden of proving damage beyond ordinary wear is on the landlord. A full refund of the deposit two years ago, without deduction, is strong evidence that no damage was claimed at the time; the messages confirming the condition of the unit are the rest of the case. There is also a limitation argument worth checking: claims of this kind have prescription periods, and the dates matter.

Service and jurisdiction

Korean courts have jurisdiction over a dispute concerning a lease of property in Korea; your move to Canada does not change that. Service on a defendant abroad is done through the Hague Service Convention, to which both Korea and Canada are parties, and a courier-delivered package with a court transmittal is consistent with that. Service by a method the Convention does not permit — an email, a message from the landlord — would be challengeable; proper service is not.

The answer period is what matters. For a domestic defendant it is thirty days from service; for a defendant abroad the court sets the period on the summons, and it is often longer. If no written answer (답변서, dapbyeonseo) is filed, the court may enter judgment without a hearing (무변론 판결, mubyeollon pangyeol) on the plaintiff's allegations. That is the "ignore it" outcome: a judgment for the full amount, plus interest, with your side never heard.

How the process works — from Canada

You can defend entirely through Korean counsel. A power of attorney (위임장, wiimjang), notarized and apostilled in Canada, appoints a lawyer who files the answer, presents your evidence, and appears at hearings. Small and mid-sized civil cases in Korea are largely decided on documents; your presence is rarely required, and some courts now allow video appearance where testimony is needed. A case of this size and this evidence often ends early, either in a judgment for the defendant or in the plaintiff withdrawing once the deposit-refund record and the messages are on the file.

A counterclaim for your own costs is possible where a claim is brought without foundation.

What a Korean judgment can reach

Inside Korea: your bank account, and any future salary, deposits or assets. At the border: nothing directly — a civil judgment is not a criminal matter and does not by itself affect entry — but an enforcement action can be waiting when you next open a Korean account or take a Korean job. In Canada: a Korean money judgment can be recognized and enforced in a Canadian court, subject to that court's tests for jurisdiction and fairness. A default judgment obtained after valid service is exactly the kind Canadian courts tend to recognize. The reverse is also true: a Korean judgment in your favor, or a withdrawal, ends the matter everywhere.

What to do now, and what not to do

Do not contact the landlord to argue; he is a litigant now. Do photograph every page of the package including the envelope and the date you received it. Do gather the deposit-refund bank record, the move-out messages, and any photos. Do get the summons translated this week to find the answer deadline. Do sign the power of attorney early; the notarization-and-apostille step in Canada takes longer than people expect.

Practical insight

Defendants abroad lose these cases in two ways: by missing the answer deadline while deciding whether the case is "real," and by assuming no Korean assets means no exposure — forgetting the account they left open and the trip they were planning. The plaintiffs who bring them count on both. A single filed answer with the refund record attached changes the arithmetic for the landlord and, in cases like this, frequently ends it.

If you send us photographs of the summons, we can tell you the deadline and whether service was valid — by text consultation or at +82-2-522-3959.

— MEGA X Law Firm Korea, Civil Litigation Team