The Korean National Assembly enacted an amendment to the Korean Whistleblower Protection Act (“Korean WPA”) that came into effect in August of 2024. The amendment to the Korean WPA should assist in encouraging more whistleblower actions in Korea. The major revisions to the Korean Whistleblower Protection Act are noted below.
Korea’s Whistleblower Protection Act
Major Amendments to Korea’s Whistleblower Protection Act
1. Increased Compensation for Whistleblowers
The compensation ceiling of KRW 3 billion is lifted and replaced with a cap of 30% of the amount recovered because of the whistleblower report. Under the prior Korean WPA, the highest amount of compensation awarded was KRW 1.16 billion based on a recovered sum of KRW 26.3 billion recovered. IPG Legal is confident that the amendment shall lead to greater amounts of compensation for whistleblowers.
2. Increased Protection for Whistleblowers
Slight tweaks were made that may lead to more protections for whistleblowers. We shall have an article, in the near future, on protections afforded to whistleblowers in Korea. Please check back.
3. Expanded Definition of “Public” Whistleblower
The amended Korean WPA increases the scope of application of the act by listing additional statutes that fall under the scope of application. Two major additional statutes added are the Korean Financial Consumer Protection Act and the Korean Disaster and Safety Communications Network Act.
4. Expansion of Attorney Fees
The amended WPA allows the potential for the award of attorney fees for attorneys in Korea representing whistleblowers that file anonymously to all stages from filing of the initial whistleblower report to completion of the investigation to applying for compensation.
Sean Hayes is the first non-Korean attorney to have worked for the Korean court system (Constitutional Court of Korea) and one of the first non-Koreans to be a regular member of a Korean law faculty. Sean is ranked, for Korea, as one of only two non-Korean lawyers as a Top Attorney by AsiaLaw, and IPG Legal is consistently ranked Top Dispute Resolution Law Firm for our litigation services.
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