Background
From October 2016 to the end of 2022, our client lived with a partner he planned to marry. In June 2017, the partner said they needed a home and asked him to borrow money and lend it so she could buy an apartment. He took out a KRW 20 million loan from a credit union and sent the full amount.
The partner kept borrowing, citing housing funds, her brother's emergency, her sister's accident lawsuit and a business deposit. Our client raised the money through card and insurance policy loans. The partner also borrowed from his parents.
What Was at Stake
The money moved in dozens of transfers and cash handovers over several years, and loan notes covered only part of it. Each payment had to be identified and shown to be a loan.
How Changchun Helped
In the complaint, Law Firm Changchun built the claim as follows:
Matching loans to transfers, line by line. A table set each loan our client took out against each transfer or cash handover to the partner, showing KRW 90.54 million lent.
Reconstructing the mother's withdrawals. The mother, who could not read, had entrusted her bankbook and seal to the partner; repeated withdrawals and a transfer used to cover the partner's debt totaled KRW 47.1 million.
Dividing the late father's claim by inheritance shares. The father's KRW 10 million loan was split KRW 6 million to the mother and KRW 4 million to our client.
Outcome
The partner filed no answer. In February 2026, the first-instance court entered judgment without a hearing, ordering her to pay KRW 94.54 million to our client and KRW 53.1 million to his mother, each with 12% annual delay damages. The claims were granted in full, the defendant bore the costs, and the judgment was provisionally enforceable.
Matching loan, transfer and withdrawal records by date can prove a loan even without written notes. (Outcomes depend on the facts of each case.)