Twelve years married, everything is in my Korean husband's name and some of it is in the US — what am I entitled to in a Korean divorce?

Your husband is wrong on the point that matters most. Korean property division is not based on whose name is on the account, and it does not treat a homemaker's contribution as zero — twelve years of raising two children while he built the career that produced those assets is exactly the contribution the law recognizes. Your friend is right that Korea is not California; there is no automatic fifty-fifty rule. Contribution ratios are decided case by case, and long marriages with a full-time homemaker frequently land far from "not much." On the US money and the risk of assets moving, the tools exist, and the time to use them is before he knows you are filing.

Can you divorce in Korea, and under which law

A Korean court has jurisdiction under Article 56 of the Act on Private International Law (국제사법, gukje sabeop); Korean law applies under Article 66 because your husband is a Korean national habitually resident here. Korean law therefore governs property division, including how it treats assets located abroad.

Which route: agreement, mediation, litigation

Given his stance, expect mediation (조정, jojeong) followed by litigation. Cases with significant assets are often resolved in mediation once both sides have seen the disclosure — which is why disclosure comes first.

Children, property and support

Property division (재산분할, jaesan bunhal) under Article 839-2 of the Civil Act covers property acquired during the marriage through the cooperation of both spouses, in either name. The court identifies the pool, values it at or near the close of trial, and sets each spouse's contribution ratio. Homemaking and child-rearing are recognized as contributions; the longer the marriage and the more the asset base was built during it, the closer ratios tend to move toward equal. Assets one spouse brought into the marriage or inherited (특유재산, teugyu jaesan) are in principle excluded — but where the other spouse's efforts helped maintain or grow them, courts have included them in part.

Assets in the United States are within the pool. A Korean court values them and accounts for them in the division; it may order him to pay you a sum reflecting your share rather than attempt to transfer a US account directly. Collecting on that from US assets, if he does not pay voluntarily, means having the Korean judgment recognized in the relevant US state — a separate, workable step.

Consolation money (위자료, wijaryo) is decided on fault and is separate from the division. Custody (양육권, yangyukgwon), child support and visitation for the two children are decided in the same case, and as the primary caregiver you start from a strong position on custody.

Disclosure and freezing assets

Two procedures answer your third question. A financial disclosure order (재산명시명령, jaesan myeongsi myeongnyeong) requires him to list his assets under penalty; a court-ordered asset inquiry (재산조회, jaesan johoe) obtains records directly from Korean banks, brokerages and the property registry. For the US account, the court can order him to produce statements; refusal is drawn against him, and US-side discovery can be pursued if needed.

Before any of that, a provisional attachment (가압류, gaapnyu) or provisional disposition (가처분, gacheobun) can freeze the apartment and Korean accounts pending the case. It is granted on paper, without notice to him, on a showing of your likely claim and the risk of dissipation. His comment that you will "get what the law says" and the unseen US statements are the kind of facts that showing is made of.

What this means for your stay in Korea

Your F-6 continues during the case. A divorce judgment matters afterward; immigration rules provide for a foreign spouse whose marriage ended through the Korean spouse's fault and for a parent raising Korean children, both decided by the Immigration Office. Two children in your primary care is the most relevant fact in that review. MEGA X handles the divorce; where the result affects your stay, we coordinate with an immigration specialist as part of the case.

Practical insight

Long-marriage division cases are decided by the asset list, and asset lists are decided by who moved first. Wives who file after announcing their intentions find the savings account emptier than it was. Start now, quietly: photograph any statements you can lawfully see, note account institutions and approximate balances, and let the freeze go on before the petition does. The second point is valuation timing; markets and property prices move during a year of litigation, and the choice of when to value can matter more than a few points of ratio.

If you can tell us roughly what exists and where, we can map the sequence — freeze, disclosure, filing — before he is aware of any of it. Text consultation or +82-2-522-3959.

— MEGA X Law Firm Korea, International Family Law Team