SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jin Yeong Chung, Inhak Lee and Seung Hyeon Lee, Kim & Chang
If information involving privacy or trade secrets is stated in a document, the relevant party may ask the court to limit the access to such docu- ment by submitting an application regarding the confidentiality of the document. 8.3 Enforcement of Settlement Agreements Once a settlement is made and is recorded by the court in the protocol, the protocol holds the same status as a final and conclusive court judg- ment. Therefore, the settlement is fully enforce- able. 8.4 Setting Aside Settlement Agreements Since a settlement protocol has the same effect as a final and conclusive judgment, unless there is a statutory ground for a retrial, such settlement protocol cannot be revoked or set aside. 9. Damages and Judgment 9.1 Awards Available to the Successful Litigant There are three types of dispositive sections that a Korean court can issue: • a judgment ordering performance of obliga- tions; • a declaratory judgment (ascertaining rights or obligations of a party); and • a judgment forming or creating legal relation- ships. 9.2 Rules Regarding Damages Courts may make rulings for the payment of pecuniary damages, for both economic and non-economic damages. Some sector-specific statues include the following.
• Punitive damages are generally not allowed under Korean law. However, as an excep- tion to this principle, there are statutes under which punitive damages may be recovered, such as the Subcontract Act (three to five times the amount of actual damages) and the Personal Information Protection Act (up to five times the amount of actual damages). • The Products Liability Act provides for com- pensation of damages up to three times the amount of actual damages/losses in cases where the manufacturer knew of the defect in its product but failed to take necessary meas- ures to rectify such defect, which resulted in death or serious bodily injuries. • Since 2024, compensation of damages up to five times the amount of actual damages/ losses has been allowed under the Patent Act (wilful infringement of patent or exclusive rights) and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act (wilful misappropriation of trade secret). Since 2019, compensation of damages up to three times the amount of actual damages/ losses has been allowed under the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Law (price-rigging or retaliatory measures for reporting of unfair trade practice). • The Credit Information Act and the Motor Vehicle Management Act were amended in 2020 and 2021, respectively, and under these amended statutes, compensation of damages up to five times the amount of actual dam- ages/losses may be recovered. Under the amended Credit Information Act, such dam- ages may be recovered in cases where credit information companies and other entities who are entrusted with individuals’ credit informa- tion, lose, disclose or otherwise destroy such information due to gross negligence or wilful misconduct. Under the amended Motor Vehi- cle Management Act, such damages may be recovered in cases where manufacturers or
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