By Kim Da-ye
A Vietnamese wife and a Korean husband visited the "Desk For Foreigners" Tuesday at Seoul Family Court to sort out adoption of the wife's daughter she had with her former husband, who is now dead.
The Vietnamese documents the wife obtained to file for an adoption, however, didn't show who the child's mother and father were. The Korean husband became frustrated as he complained about the differences between family registers in Korea and Vietnam.
While a Korean court official told the husband what he should prepare for his next visit, the wife talked to Do Ha-yeong, the newly recruited clerk at the desk for foreigners, in Vietnamese. The four-way communications in two different languages somehow worked out with the initially perturbed couple leaving with smiles on their faces.
The Korean official said that Do's presence often calms down what may turn into a chaos with her language and psychological support for foreign spouses.
Do, a Vietnamese who married a Korean, came to Korea eight years ago and changed her name, along with Bernadine Ediang, a Filipina, who has lived here since 1995, began working at Seoul Family Court on April 1 when the desk for foreigners was created.
The desk serves an increasing number of foreigners who seek to divorce, adopt and deal with any other family-related matters.
Nearly 30 percent of the cases filed with Seoul Family Court involve foreigners, while an average of 1 percent of all court cases across the country do.
The Seoul Family Court hired a Vietnamese and a Filipina because the two ethnic groups represent a large portion of divorces filed with the court.
Between March 2013 and February 2014, the Vietnamese were engaged in 17.73 percent of 3,007 divorces and marriage cancellations involving foreign spouses between March 2013 and February 2014. The Filipinos accounted for 6.82 percent, while the Chinese represent the majority at 55.87 percent.
In many divorce cases, foreign spouses find themselves in trouble, not being able to speak the language to proceed with a suit or not having enough money to hire a lawyer.
Do remembersed a Vietnamese-and-Korean couple who wanted to file for a divorce. They had been seeing a counselor, who apparently interpreted wrongly and caused a misunderstanding.
When Do spoke to the lost-in-translation couple, they left the court without filing a divorce. They have never returned.
"I didn't even consult them. I just interpreted what they said," said Do.
Ediang, who used to work for the Support Center for Women's Hotline, finds the court's arrangement for pro bono attorneys immensely helpful for foreign spouses.
This year, the court designated 17 lawyers ― three with offices near Seoul Family Court in Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul, and 14 attorneys in different districts with multi-language services.
Pro bono attorneys were previously not available in family courts. The court now subsidizes the fees fully or partially for those who cannot afford attorneys and are not bound to lose their suits.
In May, 101 foreigners ― including 33 Chinese, 25 Vietnamese and 15 from the Philippines ― visited the desk, up from 79 in April. Forty three of them divorced by agreement and 13 filed suit for divorce. Eleven of them sought pro-bono attorneys.
The Korean official said that before the desk was created, he doubted it would work.
"Now I feel this program should be expanded to all family courts in the country," he said.
A Vietnamese wife and a Korean husband visited the "Desk For Foreigners" Tuesday at Seoul Family Court to sort out adoption of the wife's daughter she had with her former husband, who is now dead.
The Vietnamese documents the wife obtained to file for an adoption, however, didn't show who the child's mother and father were. The Korean husband became frustrated as he complained about the differences between family registers in Korea and Vietnam.
While a Korean court official told the husband what he should prepare for his next visit, the wife talked to Do Ha-yeong, the newly recruited clerk at the desk for foreigners, in Vietnamese. The four-way communications in two different languages somehow worked out with the initially perturbed couple leaving with smiles on their faces.
The Korean official said that Do's presence often calms down what may turn into a chaos with her language and psychological support for foreign spouses.
Do, a Vietnamese who married a Korean, came to Korea eight years ago and changed her name, along with Bernadine Ediang, a Filipina, who has lived here since 1995, began working at Seoul Family Court on April 1 when the desk for foreigners was created.
The desk serves an increasing number of foreigners who seek to divorce, adopt and deal with any other family-related matters.
Nearly 30 percent of the cases filed with Seoul Family Court involve foreigners, while an average of 1 percent of all court cases across the country do.
The Seoul Family Court hired a Vietnamese and a Filipina because the two ethnic groups represent a large portion of divorces filed with the court.
Between March 2013 and February 2014, the Vietnamese were engaged in 17.73 percent of 3,007 divorces and marriage cancellations involving foreign spouses between March 2013 and February 2014. The Filipinos accounted for 6.82 percent, while the Chinese represent the majority at 55.87 percent.
In many divorce cases, foreign spouses find themselves in trouble, not being able to speak the language to proceed with a suit or not having enough money to hire a lawyer.
Do remembersed a Vietnamese-and-Korean couple who wanted to file for a divorce. They had been seeing a counselor, who apparently interpreted wrongly and caused a misunderstanding.
When Do spoke to the lost-in-translation couple, they left the court without filing a divorce. They have never returned.
"I didn't even consult them. I just interpreted what they said," said Do.
Ediang, who used to work for the Support Center for Women's Hotline, finds the court's arrangement for pro bono attorneys immensely helpful for foreign spouses.
This year, the court designated 17 lawyers ― three with offices near Seoul Family Court in Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul, and 14 attorneys in different districts with multi-language services.
Pro bono attorneys were previously not available in family courts. The court now subsidizes the fees fully or partially for those who cannot afford attorneys and are not bound to lose their suits.
In May, 101 foreigners ― including 33 Chinese, 25 Vietnamese and 15 from the Philippines ― visited the desk, up from 79 in April. Forty three of them divorced by agreement and 13 filed suit for divorce. Eleven of them sought pro-bono attorneys.
The Korean official said that before the desk was created, he doubted it would work.
"Now I feel this program should be expanded to all family courts in the country," he said.
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