A Comparative Study on the Seller's liability for the Delivery of Defective Goods under Korean Law and the PELS

This study investigates what remedies are available for the buyer who suffers from the seller's delivery of defective goods under Korean law and the PELS. In its investigation, it focuses on the question of in what way the various courses of action open to the buyer are unfolded in each jurisdiction, and what individual requirements must be satisfied for the exercise of each remedy. In addition, it attempts to compare and evaluate all the relevant rules under Korean law and the PELS in light of the discipline of comparative law. It overall finds that, although the hierarchial two-tier remedial scheme adopted by the PELS appears very different from Korean law, they are not as much different as one expects, particularly when all the requirements for each remedy are examined in a comparative way. Nevertheless, there are some dissimilarities which are mostly based on the PELS' different treatment in accordance with the distinction between general commercial sales and sales involved with either a consumer or a private seller. The comparative study argues one needs to re-examine the legal nature of the seller's guarantee liability and to introduce the unified liability system into Korean law in order to overcome any unclear and complicated position in Korean law.