My Korean ex-husband stopped paying child support after I moved back to the US with our son — how do I enforce a Korean order from here?

Enforce the order where he is, not where you are. Your mediation record is a Korean court order; the debtor, his salary and his assets are in Korea; and Korean enforcement — wage garnishment, account attachment, and the government agency you read about — is available to a foreign custodial parent living abroad, through counsel, without your presence. Domesticating the order in Ohio would let you collect from assets in Ohio, of which he has none. "Basically impossible" describes collecting in the US; it does not describe collecting in Seoul, where a salaried employee at a large company is close to the easiest debtor there is.

What the order is

A mediation record (조정조서, jojeong joseo) from a Korean family court has the force of a final judgment and is directly enforceable in Korea. The child support (양육비, yangyukbi) clause creates a money claim for each unpaid month; arrears accumulate as ordinary debts, and future installments are enforceable as they fall due. No recognition or fresh proceeding is required in Korea. Your living abroad is irrelevant to the order's validity.

Enforcement tools in Korea

Three tools, roughly in order of effectiveness for a salaried debtor.

A direct payment order (양육비 직접지급명령, yangyukbi jikjeop jigeup myeongnyeong) under the Family Litigation Act: the family court orders his employer to deduct child support from his salary and pay it to you directly. It covers future installments and, in current practice, can address arrears. For an employee at a large company, this alone often ends the problem, because the employer complies and the debtor's non-payment becomes visible to his workplace.

Ordinary compulsory execution (강제집행, gangje jipaeng) for the arrears: garnishment of salary and bank accounts, and attachment of property. Where his accounts are unknown, the court can order him to disclose assets (재산명시, jaesan myeongsi) and can direct inquiries to financial institutions (재산조회, jaesan johoe).

A performance order (이행명령, ihaeng myeongnyeong) under the same Act, with fines and, for persistent non-payment, detention (감치, gamchi) of up to thirty days. Since recent amendments, the court can also request suspension of a persistent non-payer's driver's license, disclosure of his name, and restriction on his leaving Korea. Vacation photos are evidence of means; they are also what a court looks at when asked to restrict his travel.

The Child Support Agency

The Child Support Agency of Korea (양육비이행관리원, yangyukbi ihaeng gwalliwon) assists custodial parents with enforcement, including the applications above, and can advance certain payments in defined cases. Eligibility rules concern the child and the order, and a custodial parent abroad is not excluded as such; the practicalities of applying from overseas are handled through counsel. It is a supplement to, not a replacement for, the court remedies.

Doing this from Ohio

A power of attorney (위임장, wiimjang), notarized and apostilled in Ohio, authorizes Korean counsel to file the direct payment order, the execution applications and the performance order, and to receive payments into a Korean account for transfer to you. You will not need to attend. The order and your son's US residence should be documented — the mediation record already records the move — and the arrears calculated month by month with his payment history from your bank.

The US–Korea side: Korea and the US both participate in international child support arrangements, and a US state child support agency can in some cases transmit an enforcement request to Korea. That route exists; it is typically slower than direct Korean enforcement through counsel, and it does not replace it.

What to do now, and what not to do

Do not agree to informal "I'll catch up" arrangements that reduce the recorded amount; anything he pays voluntarily is credited against arrears, but a modified deal needs a court record. Do not withhold contact between him and your son as leverage; it is legally separate and it damages your position. Do: assemble the mediation record, your bank statements showing his payments and their stopping, and his employer's name; then file the direct payment order and the disclosure application together.

Practical insight

Custodial parents abroad give up on Korean orders because a US attorney, correctly describing US law, told them collection was impossible. It is impossible from the US; it is routine in Korea, and it is most routine against exactly this debtor — employed, salaried, visible. The one caution: file the salary order before he changes jobs or moves money. Fourteen months of arrears and a public social-media presence suggests he does not expect enforcement. Correct that expectation once, on paper.

Send us the mediation record and his employer's name and we can tell you what the direct payment order covers and how quickly it moves — by text consultation or at +82-2-522-3959.

— MEGA X Law Firm Korea, International Family Law Team