Michelle Kwak v. Soon Yoon

Court of Appeals
of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________
June 26, 2026

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25D0572. MICHELLE KWAK v. SOON YOON.

Soon Yoon obtained a default judgment against Michelle Kwak in the Superior
Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Yoon later filed this action in the
Gwinnett County State Court, asking that the California judgment be given full faith
and credit under Georgia law.1 Kwak filed a motion to set aside the default judgment
and dismiss the case, claiming that the California court lacked personal jurisdiction
over her. The Gwinnett County State Court denied Kwak’s motion, and she now
seeks discretionary review in this Court. Yoon has filed a motion to dismiss the
application as premature. We agree with Yoon that we lack jurisdiction.
Although the Gwinnett County State Court denied Kwak’s motion to set aside
the California judgment, it appears that the state court has not yet entered a final
judgment on Yoon’s complaint. Accordingly, the order that Kwak wishes to appeal
is interlocutory. See Thomas v. Douglas County, 217 Ga. App. 520, 522 (1) (457 SE2d
835) (1995) (“[A]n order is final and appealable when it leaves no issues remaining to
be resolved, constitutes the court’s final ruling on the merits of the action, and leaves
the parties with no further recourse in the trial court.”). See also OCGA §
5-6-34(a)(1)(B).
Accordingly, to obtain immediate review of the Gwinnett County State Court’s

1
Yoon did not follow the summary procedure for domesticating a foreign
judgment under Georgia’s Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Law. See
OCGA § 9-12-130 et seq. Instead, she filed “a proceeding against a judgment debtor
via the usual means of filing an action against the debtor.” OCGA § 9-12-136.
order, Kwak was required to follow the interlocutory appeal procedures set forth in
OCGA § 5-6-34(b). See Bailey v. Bailey, 266 Ga. 832, 832–33 (471 SE2d 213) (1996);
Scruggs v. Ga. Dept. of Human Resources, 261 Ga. 587, 588–89(1) (408 SE2d 103)
(1991). And where both discretionary and interlocutory appeal procedures apply, an
applicant must follow the interlocutory appeal procedures and obtain a timely
certificate of immediate review from the trial court before filing an application. See
Scruggs, 261 Ga. at 588–89(1).
Kwak’s failure to follow the interlocutory appeal procedures deprives us of
jurisdiction over this discretionary application. Yoon’s motion to dismiss is therefore
GRANTED, and this application is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________
06/26/2026
I certify that the above is a true extract from
the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.
Witness my signature and the seal of said court
hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.