A Lighter, a Cockroach, and a Neighbor’s Death: Four-Year Sentence Upheld for Fatal Apartment Fire
A Korean appellate court has confirmed a four-year custodial sentence for a man who started a fatal fire in his studio apartment while trying to kill…
Married and Silent: Court Orders Matchmaking Member to Pay ₩47.52 Million for Hiding Wedding from Agency
A Seoul court has ruled that a matchmaking service member who married through the agency but concealed the fact — and quietly withdrew his membership before…
Fidgeting on a Bus Is Not a Crime: Appeals Court Acquits Man Convicted of Stealing Wallet He May Never Have Touched
A Korean appellate court has overturned a conviction for misappropriation of lost property, finding that suspicious behavior on a bus — without direct evidence of the…
One Safety Officer Was Not Enough: Marathon Organizers Ordered to Pay ₩350 Million After Pedestrian Left in Vegetative State
A Seoul court has held the organizers of a large-scale marathon jointly liable for catastrophic injuries suffered by a 77-year-old woman who was struck by a…
You Cannot Obstruct What Was Already Unlawful: Supreme Court Acquits Man Who Submitted Another’s Urine Sample
Submitting someone else’s urine to evade a drug test does not constitute obstruction of official duties — if the police demand for the sample was itself…
Victim and Perpetrator, Both Liable: Court Orders Mutual Damages After Groping and Online Exposure
A Korean court has issued a rare mutual damages ruling — ordering a sexual assault perpetrator to compensate his victim, while also finding the victim liable…
Cracking the Blanket Ban: Another Court Rules Criminal Contingency Fees Must Be Assessed Case by Case
A second lower court has now pushed back against the Supreme Court’s 2015 blanket prohibition on criminal success fees, ruling that such agreements should be evaluated…
Tried and Convicted Without Ever Being There: Supreme Court Orders Retrial for Defendant Who Missed Both Instances Through No Fault of His Own
Korea’s Supreme Court has ruled that where a defendant was absent from both the trial and appellate proceedings through no fault of his own — and…
You Cannot Punish What the Rulebook Does Not List: Court Strikes Down Unlisted Disciplinary Measure
A Korean administrative court has ruled that an employer cannot impose a form of disciplinary action that does not appear in its own internal disciplinary rules…
No Legal Personality, No Joint Liability: Supreme Court Blocks Privacy Law Prosecution of Fire Station Interviewer
A fire station interviewer who misused a job applicant’s personal information cannot be prosecuted under the Personal Information Protection Act’s dual liability provision — because the…
Investigator and Prosecutor Cannot Be the Same: Court Dismisses Charges Over Separation-of-Functions Violation
A Seoul court has thrown out criminal charges against a university professor and graduate student on the grounds that the prosecutor who investigated the case was…
Same Floor, Separate Doors: Court Rules Hospital and Pharmacy Can Coexist on the Same Level Without Violating Separation Rules
A Korean appellate court has confirmed that a pharmacy and a medical clinic located on the same floor of the same building do not violate the…
Same Desk, Different Grade: Court Rules That Giving Veterans a Higher Job Title at Hire Is Sex Discrimination
A Korean administrative court has drawn a clear line between two types of preferential treatment for military veterans in hiring: crediting service time toward pay is…
The Clock Doesn’t Start Until the Insurer Actually Knows: Supreme Court Resets the Timeline on Policy Cancellation Rights
A Korean insurer’s right to cancel a policy for a policyholder’s failure to report a change in occupation does not begin running from when a claim…
Propofol for Profit, but Not “Drug Dealing”: Supreme Court Draws a Sharp Line on How Doctors Can Be Charged
A doctor who secretly administered propofol to over a hundred patients under the guise of cosmetic procedures — pocketing ₩4.1 billion in the process — has…
Ten Years of Partnership, One Changed Password: Court Rules Unilateral Email Lockout Is Void
When a decade-long law firm partnership collapsed, a dispute over a shared email account ended up in court. The ruling clarifies that jointly used business assets…
Performance Bonuses Are Profit-Sharing, Not Wages: Supreme Court Excludes Management Bonuses from Retirement Pay Calculations
South Korea’s Supreme Court has ruled that annual performance bonuses tied to a company’s net profit are not “wages” in the legal sense and therefore cannot…
“You’re Remarrying? Hand Over the Dog.” — Court Rules the One Who Paid Gets to Keep the Pet
A Korean court has settled a dispute over a dog caught between a separating couple, making clear that animal registration does not transfer ownership — and…
He Collected ₩700 Million in Insurance for Corn Removal — Then the Insurer Tried to Sue Again. The Supreme Court Said No.
The Background – A policyholder received cryotherapy for corn (티눈) removal thousands of times and successfully claimed approximately ₩700 million in surgical disease benefits under his…
‘I Wanted to Test the Police’ — Man Who Posted Fake Airport Bomb Threats Ordered to Pay ₩29 Million in Damages
The Incident – On the night of August 6, 2023, a man in his 30s identified as A posted six bomb threat messages over a three-and-a-half-hour…
Eight-Time Theft Offender Gets Sentence Doubled on Appeal by Stealing Again Days After Release
The Case – A 42-year-old man identified as A, with eight prior theft convictions, was released and promptly reoffended while still under investigation for an earlier…
Stealing from Your Parents Is Now a Complaint-Required Crime: Supreme Court Applies Reformed Family Theft Rule
Following a landmark constitutional ruling that upended how Korean law treats theft within families, the Supreme Court has clarified that crimes committed after the constitutional court’s…
Don’t Blame the Family: Constitutional Court Rules That Criminalizing Failure to Pass On Military Notices Is Unconstitutional
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has unanimously struck down a provision of the former Military Service Act that made it a criminal offense for family members to…
Guaranteed Admission, Guaranteed Prison: Supreme Court Upholds Sentence for ₩850 Million University Placement Scam
South Korea’s Supreme Court has finalized a prison sentence for a fraudster who pocketed ₩850 million by falsely promising to use insider connections to secure a…
One Wrong Form, ₩120 Million in Damages: The Costly Difference Between Withdrawing an Appeal and Dropping a Case (Entirely)
A simple (?) clerical error by a law firm employee — filing the wrong withdrawal document with the court — cost a client a hard-won property…
A Fever Ignored, a Family Harmed: Postnatal Care Center Ordered to Pay ₩20 Million for Newborn Sepsis
A Seoul court has held a postnatal care center liable for failing to act on a newborn’s warning signs, resulting in a dangerous case of sepsis.…
On Paper Broken, But Still Married: Court Rules Pension Must Be Split Across Full Marriage Period
A South Korean administrative court has ruled that merely acknowledging a marital breakdown in divorce documents is not enough to reduce a former spouse’s share of…
A Treaty Cannot Silence the Victims: Korea’s Supreme Court Rules on Wartime Forced Labor Claims
South Korea’s Supreme Court has confirmed that the 1965 Korea-Japan Claims Agreement does not bar individual victims of Japanese wartime forced labor from pursuing damages in…
When One Jump Too Many, Costs Millions: South Korea’s Trampoline Liability Ruling
A South Korean court has ordered a resort and a child’s family to pay approximately ₩30 million (roughly $22,000 USD) in damages after a trampoline accident…
Victory for Confidentiality: Korean Supreme Court Upholds Attorney-Client Privilege
A recent landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of Korea marks a significant turning point for legal privacy, effectively recognizing Attorney-Client Privilege (ACP) as a constitutional…
Korean Court Affirms Broad Protection for Online Expression on Wiki Platforms
Key Takeaways No Liability for Namu Wiki (나무위키) – The Seoul High Court held that Namu Wiki is not liable for defamation damages, even where some…
Prosecution Can’t Keep Fund Records Secret, Court Rules
🧾 Case Overview The Seoul Administrative Court ruled that prosecutors must disclose certain special activity fund records. A civic group won a lawsuit challenging the prosecution’s…
Supreme Court Affirms Fraud Convictions in KakaoBank ATM Fee Abuse Case
🧾 Case Overview The Supreme Court of Korea upheld convictions against three defendants for abusing a bank ATM fee system. Charges included fraud and obstruction of…
Statute of Limitations Starts at the Last Payment, Court Rules
🧾 Case Overview A court ruled that when a doctor receives multiple cash payments from a pharmaceutical company for promotional purposes, the statute of limitations starts…
Court: Voluntary Work Dinner Not “Work,” No Survivor Benefits for Fatal Accident
🔹Key Takeaway A fatal accident after a voluntary work dinner is not considered work-related, so no survivor benefits are owed. Case Overview A delivery driver died…
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