SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Choon Won Lee and Dahee Kim, Jipyong LLC
If non-performance of a shipping contract – such as late delivery, non-arrival of a chartered vessel, or slow ratio of loading or discharging – satisfies the aforementioned criteria, the non- performing party may be exonerated from and avoid liability. However, the issue of whether the non-performance was indeed without attribut - able fault of the non-performing party may be heavily disputed, and the terms of the relevant contract will need to be carefully reviewed and considered. The court may apply strict stand - ards and may likely not acknowledge liability exoneration easily. 8.2 Enforcement of the IMO 2020 Rule Relating to Limitation on the Sulphur Content of Fuel Oil The Marine Environment Management Act of Korea has been revised to reflect IMO 2020, lim - iting the sulphur content of fuel oil used on board ships. Further, the Special Act on the Improve - ment of Air Quality in Port Areas of Korea was enacted and came into force in 2020, in order to improve the air quality of the port areas. In the emission control areas, as designated by the International Maritime Organization and also as designated under South Korean law, which encompasses most of the major ports, such as Busan, Incheon and Ulsan, the limit on the sul - phur content of fuel oil used by vessels is 0.1% mass by mass (m/m). In the case of other territo - rial waters, the limit is 0.5% m/m. The MOF and the Coast Guard are the govern - ment authorities responsible for the enforcement of the sulphur content limitation. 8.3 Trade Sanctions South Korea has been adopting and imple - menting a number of the UN Security Coun - cil resolutions and sanctions (for instance, the
UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions against North Korea and Iran), mostly by way of the issuing of administrative rules by the relevant ministry of the government. However, there is no general law stipulating the implementation of UN Security Council resolu - tions and sanctions. In this regard, there has been a call for just such a general law and, since 2021, a draft bill has been in discussion in the congress. It remains to be seen whether that general law will be enacted. As regards the Russia–Ukraine war trade sanc - tions, South Korea has adopted financial sanc - tions against Russia, including suspension of financial transactions with major Russian banks, etc. 8.4 International Conflict(s) While the recent international conflict(s) – the war in Ukraine, Houthis’ attacks on vessels navi - gating towards the Red Sea, and lack of access to the Suez Canal – have had commercial and economic impacts in South Korea generally (for instance, the exit of South Korean companies from their Russian offices and factories, the rise of oil and raw material prices, the rise of freight and delay in carriage of cargo, etc), their impli - cations on maritime law and/or trade have not been particularly substantial, or at least have not crystallised yet. 9. Additional Maritime or Shipping Issues 9.1 Other Jurisdiction-Specific Shipping and Maritime Issues As discussed in 4.1 Ship Arrests , there are three types of ship arrest in South Korea. A party who intends to consider ship arrest in South Korea
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