Two Abducted Children Are Home At Last

Mediation and hearings in June and August 2020 resulted in the first California court order. If the mother had complied with this order by bringing the children home (or allowing the father to do so himself), she would have preserved joint custody shared with the father. But she did not.

A review hearing in October 2020 resulted in the second California court order, confirming the father's sole legal and physical custody of the children, and authorizing him to bring them home from Korea himself.

However, since the father was prevented from picking up the children, in November 2020 he filed a request for return of the children in Seoul Family Court under the Hague Convention. He then waited months for the court to respond. Finally, after hearings in March, April, and May 2021, the judge issued a return decision in June.

The mother appealed, but as noted by the appellate court, didn't make any substantially new arguments, so the return decision was confirmed in October 2021. Provisial execution was also granted, allowing enforcement to finally begin (almost two years from when the abduction started).

The mother made a final appeal to the Korean Supreme Court (again without any significantly new arguments), but her appeal was dismissed in February 2022, finalizing the return decision.

Since the mother still did not return the children after the Supreme Court decision, the Seoul Family Court issued a performance order in April 2022 instructing her to comply within ten days.

However, the mother ignored the performance order, so in July 2022, the court imposed a fine on her of 5,000,000 (roughly $3800).

Even after being fined, the mother still ignored the performance order, so in October 2022, the court sentenced her to 30 days of detention. (However, this detention order expired after six months without being successfully enforced.)

The mother took the children into hiding to evade detention, so in February 2023, the court ordered that she accrue 500,000 (roughly $400) per day in debt to the father until the children are returned.

Finally, in September 2023, a second detention order was issued, and this time it was successfully enforced. However, the mother refused to return the children, and was released from detention after 30 days.

In January 2024, the Seoul Family Court issued a new performance order, this time instructing the mother to comply within twenty days.

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