SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Sung Jin Kim, Jay J. Kim, Chunsoo Lee and Joe Kim, Kim & Chang
Amendment to the AV Act Became Effective in March 2025 An Amendment to the Act on the Promotion and Support for the Commercialization of Autono - mous Vehicles (the “AV Act” ) took effect on 20 March 2025. The amendment aims to establish a legal framework for the commercialisation of Level 4 autonomous vehicles (AV). The amendment institutes a basic framework to prepare the industry for Level 4 AVs, such as: • certification requirements on the structure, equipment, form, specification and perfor - mance of AVs; • permit requirements for public institutions, public transit companies, freight businesses for operating AVs; and • various obligations for AV manufacturers.
Although still in its early stages, if Level 4 AVs become commercialised, we may anticipate new types of product liability claims arising from incidents that occur during their operation. For instance, the developer of the self-driving software may become subject to a product lia - bility claim. In such cases, whether a software qualifies as “product” under the PLA may be raised as a key legal issue to be decided by the courts. Consumers may also bring product liabil - ity claims alleging defective designs in the AVs, in which case whether the statutory exemption of liability applies will become a question to be decided by the courts.
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