Safety Measures in Korean School Buses in Korea via the Amended Road Traffic Act of Korea

The Amendment to the Korean Road Traffic Act (hereinafter as “ Korean RTA”) is in force since March 2019 and shall generally increase the safety for children in school buses in Korea. The Amendment was a reaction to an accident that occurred with in school buses, including children, which got physically harmed or even died. An infamous incident involved a young child that left unattended in a bus and died because of, among other things, heat exhaustion.

Korean RTA drastically changed, the following brief snippet is, only, the tip of the iceberg. If you are running a business that transports children, we, highly, recommend having your law firm in Korea walk you through this law.

Two Highlights of the Amendment to the Korean Road Traffic Act 2019

  • “A driver of a school bus for children shall operate a device that verifies that the discharge of children from the bus has been completed, in order to make sure that no child remains on the bus.” (Art. 53 (5) RTA) In anyone “…failing to comply with this shall be punished with a fine not to exceed 200 thousand won, or by detention of less than 30 days or a minor fine less than 50 thousand won.“.
  • In order to support the efficient compliance of Art 53 (5) RTA’s new obligations to operate an appropriate device in school buses, Art 138-2 (2) RTA earmarks that the “…central or a local government may fully or partially subsidize the cost of installing and/or operating such a device that verifies the discharge of all children from a bus…”.

With this amendment and more focus on safety, in general, in Korea we suspect to see more cases going to court and many are hoping for greater damage awards.

by Barbara Goiser

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Korean Corporate and Compliance Korean Criminal Law Korean Litigation Uncategorized

About SJ Kook

Judge Kook is a retired Korean court judge who leads the Dispute Resolution Team at IPG and he is the managing partner for SJ Law Firm, Int’l Practice Group (IPG Legal). Judge Kook was a top graduate from Seoul National University College of Law and received an LL.M. from Columbia University. Judge Kook served for a variety of courts and as a research judge for the Constitutional Court of Korea. He retired from the bench after serving as a presiding judge for the Incheon District Court. ​ Judge Kook is a renowned litigator who has successfully obtained over 50 not guilty verdicts for clients in a broad range of individual and corporate criminal matters. Judge Kook has, also, successfully litigated and arbitrated a broad range of civil matters for domestic and international clients. ​ Judge Kook is known for his approachable manner, ability to explain complex legal matters to clients and his passion to prevail in all cases that he handles.