South Korean personal-injury claims are valued under Civil Act Articles 750 and 751, with quantum derived from Supreme Court precedent and the Hoffman or Leibniz formulae for future earnings.
South Korea operates a civil-law tort framework. The Civil Act (민법) governs liability — Article 750 for general tort, Article 751 for non-pecuniary damages, Article 763 incorporating contributory-negligence reduction. The Supreme Court has developed a body of case law that practitioners use as quantum bands.
For motor injury, the Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance Act provides a structured statutory framework with mandatory coverage minimums; most quantum disputes settle within the insurance framework. Future earnings loss is conventionally calculated using the Hoffman coefficient (simple-interest) or the Leibniz coefficient (compound-interest) depending on the court's preference.
Limitation is three years from knowledge of the harm and responsible party, ten years from the tort, under Civil Act Article 766.
Indicative settlement values, sourced to the authority documents above. These are starting points for valuation, not quotes for any specific case.
| Injury type | Band | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Minor whiplash | ₩5,000,000 – ₩15,000,000 | Supreme Court bands; CALI tables |
| Severe whiplash / persistent | ₩15,000,000 – ₩50,000,000 | Supreme Court bands |
| Back — moderate | ₩30,000,000 – ₩100,000,000 | Supreme Court precedent |
| Severe brain injury | ₩300,000,000 – ₩1,000,000,000+ | Catastrophic-band Supreme Court decisions plus future loss |
| Femur fracture | ₩20,000,000 – ₩70,000,000 | Supreme Court precedent |
| Medical negligence | ₩50,000,000 – ₩500,000,000 | Supreme Court bands; medical expert evidence required |
Civil Act art. 766
Discovery rule applies.
Civil Act art. 763 incorporating art. 396. No bar threshold.
Caps that bite on damages awards in South Korea, ordered by impact.
Statutory floor on CALI cover; voluntary insurance covers excess.
The procedural pathway from injury to settlement under South Korea law.
Most claims settle with CALI-mandated and voluntary insurers using published bands.
For consumer-related disputes including some PI, mediation via KCA or Financial Supervisory Service.
Suit filed in the Civil Court of the relevant District Court.
Bench trial; appellate review through the High Court and Supreme Court.
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Vocabulary that comes up in any conversation about claim value in this jurisdiction.
Every claim turns on its own facts: severity, prognosis, recovery time, the medical paper trail, lost income, the applicable cap, and the published band that most closely matches. The figures on this page are illustrative aggregates, not a quote. For representation, consult a solicitor or attorney qualified in South Korea. See our disclaimer for the full scope of what we do and don't do.