Need a bankruptcy attorney in South Korea who also speaks English

February 10, 2023 10:09 AM

Hello, I'm looking for an attorney who can help an elderly relative of mine who is a South Korean citizen, and lives there. He has a lot of medical debt and I'd like to explore what his, if any, options are with bankruptcy.

I've googled and had a few "we can't help" responses from places I've found on the internet. And absolutely no referrals at all besides a "you might want a paralegal." I'm a US citizen in the states who can not speak Korean very well. But I'm willing to pay for the attorney. So far all the google searching has taught me is that debt among old people in South Korea is a huge problem. But no concrete steps that I can take. Thanks in advance for any help.

posted by nerdpita to Law & Government (3 answers total)

places I've found on the internet

What kind of "places" did you find? What was their reason for saying "we can't help"? If you are going to pay, as you say, then it's not clear why you can't get legal help.

Here's a list of South Korea bankruptcy law firms.

Here's a link to a firm that has a pro bono department, and there are others.
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:09 AM on February 10, 2023

Do you have any friends or relatives in Korea who are fluent in Korean who could help you out with communicating with lawyers? Lawyers who are fluent in English will tend to be part of large law firms practicing corporate law. The type of legal help that would be suitable for your relative likely will not have staff fluent in English. This could be contributing to your getting "we can't help" responses.

When you say paralegal, was the Korean term used 법무사? They're in-between paralegal and attorney in U.S. terms. As there's no direct equivalent I've seen this translated into English as "Beommusa Lawyer" or "Judicial Scrivener" as well as paralegal. It's a role peculiar to the Korean and Japanese legal systems. 법무사 often handle individual bankruptcy cases.

Is your relative 60 or older? Do they have dependents? Are they currently working or do they have immediate family who are currently working? Whether they can file for bankruptcy at all may depend on answers to these questions.
posted by needled at 12:22 PM on February 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you for the info, really appreciate it. As for why they can't help, they don't give me any reasons. It seems automated. And yes, I'm also hitting up people in Korea that I know, but for the most part they don't speak much English, and I don't speak much Korean. So it's difficult. And my relative, who is 80, is now very against exploring bankruptcy. He says the stigma is too much. And that he would not be able to continue renting a home if he did so. This all sounds crazy but I have no idea. The lack of info online for a layman is amazing. And I'm not a bad researcher. Almost everything says that debt and elderly is a big problem in Korea with no info I can use. I might have at some point have to hire an english speaking local to research and explain things to me and act as a go between.
posted by nerdpita at 8:12 AM on February 13, 2023