SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jeena Kim, Kyunghwan Lee, Eunyoung Row and Bochan Kim, Bae, Kim & Lee LLC
including inflation, since the ceiling for these expenses was initially set about 20 years ago (in 2003) under the CoC. Amendments to the Public Interest Whistle- Blower Protection Act (Amended on 6 February 2024, and effective as of 7 August 2024) The Act was amended to: • provide coverage in connection with legal assistance costs for internal whistle-blowers; • remove the cap on the compensation that can be awarded to whistle-blowers (compen - sation is now based on a certain percentage (up to 30%) of the financial benefit accrued by the public institution or the amount legally confirmed as a result of the relevant report); and • establish legal basis to allow the ACRC to verify the ability of a party responsible for causing damage or incurring expenses to pay compensation, when the ACRC subrogates and exercises the right to claim damages after disbursing relief funds. Amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Public Interest Whistle-Blower Protection Act (Amended on 30 July 2024, and effective as of 7 August 2024) In connection with the foregoing amendments to the Public Interest Whistle-Blower Protection Act, the Enforcement Decree for the Act was also updated to provide a legal foundation for implementing delegated matters and for ensur - ing effective enforcement of the Act, specifically as follows. Procedure for payment of legal aid costs to lawyers assisting internal whistle-blowers When a lawyer applies for legal aid costs for assisting an internal whistle-blower, they must
submit evidence proving the assistance pro - vided. The ACRC will review the application and determine whether to approve the payment, and will decide on the payment items and amount. The decision will then be communicated to the applicant. Recovery criteria and procedure for illegally obtained legal aid costs Full recovery of legal aid costs is required if the payment was obtained through false or fraudu - lent means. Costs received for the same reason multiple times will also be fully recovered. Costs mistak - enly paid due to errors will be fully recovered as well. Upon identifying recovery grounds, the ACRC will notify the lawyer in writing, detailing: • the reason for recovery; • the recoverable amount, including interest; • the total amount due; • the payment deadline; and • the payment method. The deadline for payment will be at least 30 days from the notification date. Clarification of notification timing for protection and support measures Administrative agencies, supervisory bodies and investigative authorities with oversight of or regulatory powers over public interest violations must notify whistle-blowers about protection and support measures at the time of receiving or transferring a whistle-blower report to a com - petent investigative body. Public organisations, including public corporations established under related laws, must provide similar notifications when accepting whistle-blower reports.
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