The Korean Ministry of Information and Communication has established a Domain Name Dispute Resolution Committee (DDRC) within the Korea Internet Network Information Center (KRNIC), the agency responsible for the management of .kr ccTLD domain names. The Committee’s aim is to provide a speedy and cost-efficient means of resolving disputes involving .kr domain names.

Effective January 4, 2002, a complainant owning a trademark or service mark which is the same as or confusingly similar to a domain name may bring an administrative action with the DDRC to compel the assignment or cancellation of the domain name registration by proving that the name was registered or used in bad faith. The complaint and the response may be filed “on-line”. The complainant may choose between a one- or three-person panel to hear the dispute and bears the costs for bringing the action. If the complainant chooses a one-person panel, however, the respondent has the option of choosing a three-person panel, subject to the payment of additional fees to be shared equally by both parties.

It is expected that DDRC decisions will issue within 14 days from receipt of the response to the complaint. Decisions may be appealed to competent courts or arbitral tribunals within 14 days of the decision.

A successful action will lead to the cancellation of the domain name registration or its transfer to the complainant, but will not result in an award of any damages.

This new dispute resolution procedure is based upon the Uniform Dispute Resolution Procedure (UDRP) promulgated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the not-for-profit organization charged by the United States government with various management functions concerning Internet domain names. However, unlike the ICANN UDRP in its current form, which requires a showing that the domain name was registered and used in bad faith, a complainant before the DDRC must prove that a domain name was either registered or used in bad faith.