Open Decision Ledger · Civil procedure & enforcement
When a suit for future performance may be brought early
Supreme Court, Aug. 22, 2000, 2000Da25576 (judgment)
Case name: 구상금등
Official text on the National Law Information Center
Question
Where the time for performance has not arrived or a condition is not yet fulfilled, and the debtor may fall into insolvency so that enforcement becomes difficult or performance impossible when the time arrives, may the creditor bring a suit for future performance early?
Holding
A suit for future performance may be brought early only where there is a need to claim early. That need exists where the debtor is disputing the existence of the debt from the outset, so that voluntary performance cannot be expected once the time arrives or the condition is fulfilled. The mere risk that the debtor's insolvency would make enforcement difficult or performance impossible at that later time does not create that need.
Summary of the holding, verbatim
여기서 미리 청구할 필요가 있는 경우라 함은 이행기가 도래하지 않았거나 조건 미성취의 청구권에 있어서는 채무자가 미리부터 채무의 존재를 다투기 때문에 이행기가 도래되거나 조건이 성취되었을 때에 임의의 이행을 기대할 수 없는 경우를 말하고, 이행기에 이르거나 조건이 성취될 때에 채무자의 무자력으로 말미암아 집행이 곤란해진다던가 또는 이행불능에 빠질 사정이 있다는 것만으로는 미리 청구할 필요가 있다고 할 수 없다.
Unofficial English translation
Here, the case in which it is necessary to make the claim in advance means, with respect to a claim for which the time for performance has not yet arrived or the condition has not yet been fulfilled, a case where, because the debtor disputes the existence of the obligation from the outset, voluntary performance cannot be expected at the time the time for performance arrives or the condition is fulfilled, and the mere fact that, upon the arrival of the time for performance or the fulfillment of the condition, enforcement becomes difficult due to the debtor's lack of assets or there are circumstances giving rise to impossibility of performance cannot be regarded as constituting a need to make the claim in advance.
Disposition
Dismissed Stated in the decision
상고를 기각한다. 상고비용은 원고의 부담으로 한다.
Unofficial English translation
The appeal is dismissed. The costs of the final appeal shall be borne by the plaintiff.
Form of the test
Elements stated Stated in the decision
장래의 이행을 청구하는 소는 미리 청구할 필요가 있는 경우에 한하여 제기할 수 있는바
Unofficial English translation
An action claiming future performance may be brought only in cases where it is necessary to make the claim in advance,
Factors
- 이행기가 도래하지 않았거나 조건 미성취의 청구권에 있어서는
- 채무자가 미리부터 채무의 존재를 다투기 때문에
- 이행기가 도래되거나 조건이 성취되었을 때에 임의의 이행을 기대할 수 없는 경우를 말하고
- 이행기에 이르거나 조건이 성취될 때에 채무자의 무자력으로 말미암아 집행이 곤란해진다던가 또는 이행불능에 빠질 사정이 있다는 것만으로는
Unofficial English translation
• with respect to a claim for which the time for performance has not yet arrived or the condition has not yet been fulfilled,
• because the debtor disputes the existence of the obligation from the outset,
• a case where voluntary performance cannot be expected at the time the time for performance arrives or the condition is fulfilled, and
• the mere fact that, upon the arrival of the time for performance or the fulfillment of the condition, enforcement becomes difficult due to the debtor's lack of assets or there are circumstances giving rise to impossibility of performance,
Relation to precedent
Follows earlier decisions Stated in the decision
대법원 1991. 6. 28. 선고 90다카25277 판결(공1991, 2021)
Unofficial English translation
Supreme Court Decision 90DaKa25277 decided June 28, 1991 (Gong 1991, 2021)
Decisions referred to
대법원 1991. 6. 28. 선고 90다카25277 판결(공1991, 2021), 대법원 1993. 7. 27. 선고 92다13332 판결(공1993하, 2379), 대법원 1993. 11. 9. 선고 92다43128 판결(공1994상, 59)
Burden of proof
Not addressed Not in the decision
Open question and revisit condition
How must a creditor show that the debtor is disputing the existence of the debt from the outset, and what evidence is enough to establish the need to claim early?
Once the instalment repayments fall due from 2001, the suit is no longer one for future performance and this entry need not govern it. A later decision that relaxes or tightens the need to claim early, or a change to Article 229 of the Civil Procedure Act, would require reading this entry again.
Cross-family AI independent reading & axis check
8 of 8 axes matched GPT-6 Astra (OpenAI, codex CLI) · 2026-10-24
A reader from another model family (GPT-6 Astra), given the official text but not the primary reading, agreed on all 8 axes.
Raw responses and comparison record: Protocol · Blind readings (JSONL) · Axis comparison (JSONL) · SHA-256 (JSON)
Lower-court contrast & scope of application
Lower-court reading vs. Supreme Court holding
Lower-court context: The Busan District Court, in its judgment of 31 March 2000 (99Na21735), adopted the reasons of the first-instance judgment and found that the plaintiff's claim against the defendant on the promissory note had been fixed as a composition claim, to be repaid in instalments from 2001 under the terms of that composition. It held that the time for repayment had not arrived as at the close of oral argument and that nothing appeared which would justify a finding of need to claim early, and therefore dismissed the plaintiff's suit.
Supreme Court standard: The Supreme Court found no error. Measured against the record and the law set out above, the court below had neither failed to exercise its power to clarify the facts nor misconceived the law on the interest in bringing a suit, and the Justices unanimously dismissed the appeal with costs on the plaintiff.
Distinguishing conditions
- A claim whose time for performance has already arrived, or whose condition has already been fulfilled, so that no future performance is being sought.
- A time-not-yet-arrived or condition-not-yet-fulfilled claim in which the debtor has not disputed the existence of the debt from the outset, so that voluntary performance can still be expected when the time arrives.
- A claim supported only by the risk that the debtor's insolvency would make enforcement difficult or performance impossible at a later time, since the Court held that this alone is not enough.
Record verification notes
Set the instalment schedule of the composition claim, here from 2001, against the date of the close of oral argument, because the court below decided on maturity by that date. Then collect anything showing that the defendant disputed the existence of the debt from the outset, since that is what the Court requires for a need to claim early. Finally check the record for the first-instance reasons the court below adopted and for any clarification it sought, since the Court's finding of no error covered both.
From the official text
Points at issue
이행기 미도래 내지 조건 미성취의 청구권에 있어 이행기 도래 내지 조건 성취 시 채무자의 무자력으로 인하여 집행곤란 또는 이행불능에 빠질 사유가 있는 경우, 장래이행의 소를 제기할 수 있는지 여부(소극)
Unofficial English translation
Whether an action for future performance may be brought where, with respect to a claim for which the time for performance has not yet arrived or the condition has not yet been fulfilled, there exist grounds, upon the arrival of the time for performance or the fulfillment of the condition, for enforcement to become difficult or for impossibility of performance to arise due to the debtor's lack of assets (negative)
Summary of the holding
장래의 이행을 청구하는 소는 미리 청구할 필요가 있는 경우에 한하여 제기할 수 있는바, 여기서 미리 청구할 필요가 있는 경우라 함은 이행기가 도래하지 않았거나 조건 미성취의 청구권에 있어서는 채무자가 미리부터 채무의 존재를 다투기 때문에 이행기가 도래되거나 조건이 성취되었을 때에 임의의 이행을 기대할 수 없는 경우를 말하고, 이행기에 이르거나 조건이 성취될 때에 채무자의 무자력으로 말미암아 집행이 곤란해진다던가 또는 이행불능에 빠질 사정이 있다는 것만으로는 미리 청구할 필요가 있다고 할 수 없다.
Order
상고를 기각한다. 상고비용은 원고의 부담으로 한다.
Unofficial English translation
The appeal is dismissed. The costs of the final appeal shall be borne by the plaintiff.
Provisions referred to
민사소송법 제229조
Read 2026-10-24 · Cross-read 2026-10-24. All quotes matched against the official text. The Chinese-character placeholders the court used for anonymised parties are given in their Korean readings, and parenthetical Chinese-character glosses are omitted.
Every entry is published only after all quotes have been matched character by character against the official text, and audited by an independent second reading from a different model family across all eight axes. Both agreed axes and text-grounded interpretive divergences are recorded openly. The ledger is a research record, not an assessment of the court or advice on any matter.
Back to the ledger