KCAB Reshaped to Effectively Resolve Commercial Disputes
KCAB Reshaped to Effectively Resolve Commercial Disputes
  • archivist
  • 승인 2005.12.01 12:01
  • 댓글 0
이 기사를 공유합니다

Seeking to make Korea arbitration hub of Northeast Asia The importance of finding amicable solutions to commercial disputes has been growing, along with the rise in trade volume between nations. Moreover, a recent study by the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) has found that while the number of commercial disputes received by the board for their resolution during the first half of this year has increased by 9 percent to 332 cases from last year's 306, the amount in dispute has in contrast decreased from $320,000 on average to $220,000-a phenomenon the board attributes to today's trend of more people resorting to arbitration or mediation. Against this backdrop, the Korea IT Times interviewed Park Sam-kyu, president of KCAB, to hear from him what role KCAB plays in resolving commercial disputes.
I've heard that you have been actively engaged in various activities to provide services for the prevention and resolution of commercial disputes and promote KCAB to act as a premier arbitration center in Northeast Asia. Could you mention some recent developments The Korean Commercial Arbitration Board is currently engaged in ceaseless efforts to become an arbitration hub in Northeast Asia. In November last year, I participated in the inauguration of the Asia Pacific Arbitration Group and was elected vice chairman of the group. Also, I took part in the international conference of heads of arbitration bodies held in Washington last June. I am striving to make our organization known around the world, and plan to hold an international conference commemorating our 40th anniversary in October next year. In addition to this publicity drive made on the global level, we are stepping up efforts to build up a strong foundation that meets international standards. First of all, we have continuously been entrusting distinguished arbitrators from around the world to our arbitrators' corps. As there is the saying, "All that matters in arbitration is the arbitrator," the buttressing of competent arbitrators is an essential element of any international arbitration organization. Such being the case, we have secured a corps of 91 arbitrators residing abroad. Moreover, we have raised arbitration fees to fully reflect international standards so that arbitrators can actively assume our cases. Whether it is due to these efforts or not, the number of international arbitrations we handled last year increased by more than 20 percent to 49 from 41. In order to effectively cope with such an increasing number of international disputes, we have split our arbitration corps into two teams for dealing with commercial and maritime disputes. It is said that resolving disputes through arbitrations brings considerable benefits incomparable to those of lawsuits. Could you elaborate on what these benefits are Arbitration has many benefits of resolving commercial disputes at the local level. Even so, it becomes an even more effective tool in resolving international disputes in particular. First, it has the benefit of carrying out legal actions on foreign assets under the New York Convention for the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. If an arbitration made locally is not supported by such an international convention, it will be not so an easy task to bring about a compulsory enforcement or take matters to court abroad due to various reasons. However, since arbitration is internationally recognized among the 135 countries that are signatories to the New York Convention, it becomes possible for a disputant to seek an enforcement abroad only with a transcript of an arbitration's tribunal decision. Moreover, a final decision of arbitration can be reached in a relatively short period of time of about six to seven months on average, whereas it takes a considerable period of time in the case of international lawsuits due to complex proceedings and as the three-tiered judicial system is needed until a final verdict is pronounced. Also, one can expect a sound ruling that better reflects the essence of a dispute as our arbitrators are composed of top professionals including lawyers, highly experienced tradesmen and professors in the field of trade in the nation. In addition, we have brought in five new arbitrators in the fields of cyber trade and environment to make a tribunal of 56 arbitrators in total. Since arbitrations are conducted behind closed doors, any business secrets are kept confidential while concerns over a one-tier system are resolved by providing sufficient time and opportunities for pleading or presenting a witness or evidence. Moreover, arbitrators conduct proceedings on an equal footing with disputants without any formalities attached while respecting their personalities to the full. Lastly, I'd like to point out that one of the benefits of arbitration is that, unlike a lawsuit that resorts to a decisive judgment, it seeks to ultimately find a mutually amicable settlement, so that parties to arbitration can continue to have favorable relations in the future. It seems that the recognition bestowed on KCAB is of a muted one in comparison to the task it is involved in. Could you tell us some of the efforts made by the board to invigorate arbitration and its acceptance in business circles It is regretful to say that, even though arbitration is an effective tool for resolving disputes, public awareness of the system is still not so high. If we examine the reasons behind such a low profile, we can see that those commercial disputes worthy of attracting media attention are kept confidential as it is stipulated that arbitration proceedings cannot be disclosed to the public other than the parties involved. In addition, there are limitations to the extent we can expose ourselves to the public through the media due to insufficient budget. To overcome such a difficulty, we are trying hard to seek solutions in many ways. First of all, a new set of arbitration rules has been in force since January this year as we have made some amendments to the rules last year. Even though arbitration itself is a many times speedier process than a lawsuit, we have widened the scope of disputes that are qualified for speedier arbitration. Also, we have placed an emphasis on making the process simple and clear by taking measures such as the incorporation of a new clause for the early termination of arbitration by a tribunal's decision in the event that any party to a dispute shows negligence or fails to attend a tribunal. In addition to making changes to the rules and regulations to provide more convenience to our clients, we are currently preparing to amend a regulation to make the direct selection of arbitrators by our clients a general principle. In addition to the arbitration, is there any other system KCAB has adopted to effectively resolve c o m m e r c i a l disputes Mediation is a dispute resolving system offered by KCAB for free in order to find amicable solutions to those disputes that have not reached any agreement based on arbitration. Even though there is no compulsoriness in a mediation, the success rate of resolving disputes through mediation is very high since a third party with a balanced point of view considers conflicting arguments sufficiently and strives to draw the best result agreeable to both parties concerned in a disputed case. Presently, we handle about 600 cases of mediation each year while its success rate for international disputes stands at about 50 percent. Such a success rate for a nonbinding mediation is an extremely high figure. Furthermore, we are exerting continued efforts to strengthen cooperative ties with arbitration service providers around the world. In the meantime, our team of specialists has provided more than 4,000 cases of consulting services last year with respect to how to write out a business contract for the prevention of any dispute and finding ways to resolve disputes rationally, while better acquainting clients with commercial transactions and customs in general and providing information on arbitration organizations and relevant rules in foreign countries.

댓글삭제
삭제한 댓글은 다시 복구할 수 없습니다.
그래도 삭제하시겠습니까?
댓글 0
댓글쓰기
계정을 선택하시면 로그인·계정인증을 통해
댓글을 남기실 수 있습니다.

  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT US
  • SIGN UP MEMBERSHIP
  • RSS
  • 2-D 678, National Assembly-daero, 36-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Korea (Postal code: 07257)
  • URL: www.koreaittimes.com | Editorial Div: 82-2-578- 0434 / 82-10-2442-9446 | North America Dept: 070-7008-0005 | Email: info@koreaittimes.com
  • Publisher and Editor in Chief: Monica Younsoo Chung | Chief Editorial Writer: Hyoung Joong Kim | Editor: Yeon Jin Jung
  • Juvenile Protection Manager: Choul Woong Yeon
  • Masthead: Korea IT Times. Copyright(C) Korea IT Times, All rights reserved.
ND소프트