The Seoul International Dispute Resolution Center opened on Monday to help local and foreign companies operating in Korea settle international business disputes, officials said.

The Korea Commercial Arbitration Board, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, lawyers and nonprofit organizations joined together to establish the IDRC.

KCBA officials said the new arbitration hearing center was established to promote Korea as the East Asian hub of international law as well as its advanced environment for global enterprises.

“Seoul is geographically located in the center of international customers of international arbitration, across the United States, Japan, China, India and the ASEAN member countries,” the KCAB said.

The center will also house offices of major international arbitrators, such as the International Chamber of Commerce Hearing Center, the London Court of International Arbitration and Singapore International Arbitration Center.

“There has been an increasing inflow of Korean practitioners of international law into the market ever since Korea decided to open up the market to international law firms,” the KCAB added, pointing to Korea’s continued market expansion of legal services.


By Chung Joo-won
(joowonc@heraldcorp.com)