SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Choon Won Lee and Dahee Kim, Jipyong LLC
As regards wreck removal, South Korea is not a member state of the Nairobi International Con - vention on the Removal of Wrecks. Instead, there are a number of domestic laws that stipu - late provisions on wreck-removal liability of own - ers and interested parties, such as the Maritime Safety Act, the Marine Environment Manage - ment Act, and the Public Waters Management and Reclamation Act. 2.2 International Conventions: Collision and Salvage South Korea is a member state of the Conven - tion on the International Regulation for Pre - venting Collisions at Sea (COLREG, 1972), and the Maritime Safety Act has provisions on the conduct of vessels reflecting the COLREG. The Commercial Act of Korea has provisions on the liability of owners and interested parties in the event of collision. South Korea is not a member state of the Inter - national Convention on Salvage. Instead, the Commercial Act of Korea has provisions on sal - vage reflecting the Convention. 2.3 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims While South Korea is not a member state of the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, the Commercial Act of Korea has provisions on limitation of liability reflecting the Convention. The Act on the Procedure for Limiting the Liability of Ship-Owners stipulates on the procedure matters for limitation of liability. 2.4 Procedure and Requirements for Establishing a Limitation Fund A person who intends to limit liability should file an application to the court for commencement of the liability limitation proceeding within one year
upon receipt of the written demand(s) exceeding the limitation amount from the creditor(s). The ship-owners, in addition to the interested parties of the vessel, such as charterers, manag - ers, Master and crew members, and pilots, may file an application. Upon the review of the application documents, when the court finds that the total sum of claims subject to limitation exceeds the limitation amount, the court will commence the liability limitation proceeding and order the applicant to make a deposit corresponding to the limitation amount for establishing the limitation fund. Gen - erally, a protection and indemnity (P&I) club’s letter of undertaking (LOU) are accepted by the court in lieu of a cash deposit. The limitation amounts for each type of claim are stipulated in the Commercial Act of Korea, which is in line with the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, except for claims for loss of life or personal injury to passengers of a ship – in case of claims for loss of life or personal injury to passengers of a ship, the limit set out in the Commercial Act of Korea is in line with the 1996 Protocol. 2.5 Seafarers’ Safety and Owners’ Liability South Korea is a party to the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, and the Convention has been effective in South Korea since 9 January 2015. The Seafarers Act of Korea is the domestic leg - islation in regard to seafarers’ rights and safety, which reflects the Convention.
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