[Opinion] NO MORE Unfair Decision in International Disputes

Looking at Ahn Jung Hwan’s goal ceremony in the match against USA, we though of the gold medal Kim Dong-Sung was robbed of in the last Winner Olympics in the Salt Lake city. That experience has taught us how serious and damaging an unfair decision’s ripple effects can be.

Some of the foreign press showed their grudge against us when we beat Spain to the round of 16. They kept talking about unfair referees. Watching the unfair reporting, Koreans got angry again. In the meanwhile, we got a little perplexed at the reaction of the Turkish to the referees’ decisions in Turkey v. Brazil match.

Unfair decisions are also made in disputes or lawsuits between parties of different nationality. The body, which administers decisions, renders unfair decisions in the name of best interest of the country it belongs to. Most serious problem lies, as in Kim’s case, in that there are few (or sometimes no) ways to appeal from the decisions. From time to time, foreign jurisdictions allow stopping payments on L/Cs for no rational reasons. Then, the rulings, in reality, are like death sentences for our business men. Practically, they cannot collect on the money owed to them. In other cases, foreign courts practically bankrupt corporations from other countries by awarding multimillion-dollar damages in cases where no causation could be established between the alleged damage and action of companies in question. The corporations just give up business operations.

Sometimes, our courts, which are renowned for fairness, do the same to the foreign entities. That stems from civil procedures. In other words, the systems did not take in full consideration the characteristics of lawsuits involving foreigners. The courts, which are always under heavy caseload, sometimes react emotionally. The courts get upset during oral arguments or cross-examinations, saying “It’s too long.” Then the foreign parties appeal, arguing “It’s unfair,” which is really embarrassing.

Estimating the damaging effects of unfair decisions does not need much calculation. It teaches us why the decision-makers, whether in sports games or disputes, act carefully and fairly. To keep the balance, decision-makers are required of knowledge, experience and fair-mindedness.

People may think that the unfair decisions are made by “Non-Koreans” only. Rather, I as a person handling many international disputes think the other way around. One major factor for Koreans’ making unfair decisions lie in our “Buddy Culture,” which cherishes personal relationships based on educational background. But that happens equally due to lack of our knowledge and experience in handling international matters.

That partly explains why our companies prefer foreigners to Korean nationals as adjusters for resolving issues. Thus, international disputes are mostly handled and resolved by foreign organizations and individuals. Fair resolution of a dispute sharpens the competitive edge of a country. It is time to invest in building up human infrastructure, and reorganizing or renovating our domestic dispute-resolving systems to ensure fairness in resolution of future international affairs.