Current Legal Developments Korea

On 16 April 2014, the Sewol Ferry sank off the coast of Jindo, Korea, resulting in the deaths of 304 passengers. The Korean government enacted the 'Sewol Ferry Special Act' to provide special forms of compensation to victims by the State. It permits the Korean government to subrogate the claims of the victims and to take action against the private persons and public agencies at fault for the sinking of the Sewol. But problems have arisen because of the complexities of insurance law and the difficulties of identifying the respective degrees of fault between the responsible parties.