• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.45-64
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• 2024

In international transactions, a demand guarantee is commonly used as a so-called independent bank guarantee to protect against the other party's default under, or breach of, contract). However, there is a risk that the independence and the documentary character of the demand guarantee may be abused by the beneficiary of the guarantee, who may fall into the temptation to demand or call for payment under the guarantee by preparing documents that appear to constitute a complying demand for payment, even though the demand has no conceivable basis. In Korea, through case law, a legal rule has been developed to prevent such abusive calls for payment. This paper examines how such rule that prohibits abuse of rights is applying in the context of counter-guarantees. To this end, this paper first considers the concepts of a demand guarantee and a counter-guarantee and the basic legal principles applicable thereto. And then this paper considers abusive calls under the guarantees, that exceptionally works as grounds for refusal of payment by guarantors and counter-guarantors, further looking at some situations in which the calls amount to be abusive under counter-guarantees in particular.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.626-633
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• 2021

In the event of a housing sale guarantee accident, the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation shall be responsible for the guarantee by refunding the moving-in money unless there are special circumstances to the contractor. The Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation may refuse to perform the refund based on the Terms and Conditions Regulations Act, but disputes continue to arise between interested parties in this regard. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to study the problems and improvement measures for legal issues related to the implementation of the refund. First, the issue of guarantee effectiveness and scope of guarantee under the Terms and Conditions Regulation Act. Second, the problem of guarantee contract for conditional third parties of Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation. Third, the problem of the attitude of the existing precedents of the Supreme Court was examined. As a result of reviewing these legal issues, it was confirmed that the interpretation of terms and conditions according to the implementation of the refund is being interpreted in accordance with the principle of good faith, but according to individual cases, precedents can be divided into positive and negative judgments. In addition, despite the fact that the housing pre-sale guarantee is a guarantee contract for a conditional third party, it was confirmed that the buyer suffered damages in good faith through active disputes with the interested parties. Accordingly, the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation proposed an improvement plan for roles and cooperation items to meet the purpose of establishment for the stability of the customer's housing.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.17
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• pp.7-35
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• 2002

In many international financing transactions Korean companies are required to issue a guarantee. Thus far, however, legal issues on international guarantees have not been fully discussed in Korea. This is partly because most of the international guarantees are governed by a foreign law such as English law or the laws of the State of New York. In this articles the author examines major concepts or terms and conditions of a typical international guarantee, e.g., language on consideration, primary obligor, joint and several guarantee, unconditional and irrevocable guarantee, continuing guarantee, right of subrogation, representations and warranties, covenant or undertaking, currency indemnity, assignment, participation, governing law and jurisdiction clause, etc. For reference, standard forms of a guarantee and a standby letter of credit are attached to the article. In examining the terms and conditions, the author compares them with similar or equivalent concepts under Korean law. The author further discusses some Korean law issues that may arise under international guarantees governed by a foreign law. These issues include the application of the ultra vires doctrine under Article 34 of the Civil Code of Korea, the validity of an international guarantee which a Korean company has issued in violation of the guarantee ceiling set under Article 10 of the Law on Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade of Korea and the validity of an international guarantee which a Korean party has issued in violation of the Foreign Exchange Transaction Law. In addition, the author discusses some issues under a so-called independent guarantee and a standby letter of credit. In this regard, reference is made to the Uniform Rules for Demand Guarantee (URDG), International Standby Practices (ISP98) and the Convention on Independent Guarantees and Stand-by Letters of Credit adopted by the United Nations in 1995. Finally, the author examines major terms and conditions of typical comfort letters and discusses some legal issues, such as the binding force of the comfort letter. In dealing with the issues the author underscores that to the extent the issues are not properly dealt with by an international norm such as Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits or ISP 98, the issues must be analyzed by reference to the governing law of the relevant instrument.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.72
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• pp.25-55
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• 2016

The Buyer shall demand to the Builder the repayment of the pre-delivery instalments paid in case of the Builder's default under a ship-building contract. The Buyer require a refund guarantee issued by a financial institution for a security for the repayment of the pre-delivery instalments paid. As the title of a refund guarantee, in practice, is various, we should look into the contents or the expressions in a guarantee to decide whether a guarantee is a refund guarantee. A refund guarantee, a sort of independent bank guarantee, has characteristic of abstractness, and is independent from the ship-building contract. A refund guarantee is available against the beneficiary's first written demand and signed statement certifying that the Builder failed to make the refund in accordance with the ship-building contract. The guaranteed amount of a refund guarantee will be automatically increased in accordance with the Builder's receipt of the respective instalment, which is not in the other advance payment guarantee. These characteristics of a refund guarantee are derived from the expressions in a refund guarantee rather than inherent therein. This illustrates that careful attention is required to the contents and expressions of the main clauses in a refund guarantee.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.44
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• pp.31-55
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• 2009

This study attempts to provide a comparative overview of the liability systems Korean law and the PELS adopt, that is, the approaches taken by Korean law and the PELS to deal with various irregularities of contractual performance. In addition, it examines in a comparative way the questions of what is the position of the seller's liability for his delivery of defective goods under the chosen liability system and what is the legal nature of the seller's liability. The study finds that the dual liability system taken by Korean law has caused some complexities as to the matter of which liability is applicable in some borderline cases. The problem in such complexities is originated in that the remedies available and the limitation period applicable are differentiated in accordance with one's different categorization among three types of default under the general liability and defective performance under the seller's guarantee liability. In this light, the study argues that the unified liability system under the PELS is superior because its concept of non-performance embraces in a unitary manner all the aspects of default including defects in quality, quantity and title. In addition, it finds that Korean law has suffered endless debates on the question of what are the true contents of the same remedies of rescission and damages provided under the seller's guarantee liability as under the general liability. The debates have been come along on the basis of the traditional presumption among some of civil law jurisdictions that two liabilities be different in terms of not only their legal nature but also their contents of remedies. The study argues that the problem may be circumvented, first, by another way of thinking that the unified liability in Korean law is inferred from the specification of the identical remedies for both the general liability and the seller's guarantee liability under the KCC, second, by the preposition that the requirement of fault be depended upon what remedy the buyer seeks to claim rather than what liability he does to rely on.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.39
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• pp.87-103
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• 2008

Two kinds of security devices such as independent guarantees and standby letters of credit have been widely used in the international transactions. These devices design to protect one of the parties from a breach by its counter-party. Main uses of these guarantees and standby letters of credit are as follows : bid guarantee, performance guarantee, advance payment guarantee, payment guarantee, retention guarantee, etc. The standby letters of credit were first invented in the U.S.A. and have been widely used in the international and domestic contracts in the U.S.A. But the practical use of these credits is very unsatisfactory in Korea. The purpose of this study is to serve the increase of practical use of the standby letters of credit in Korea through the comparison study on the practical use of the credits between Korea and the U.S.A. Both devices are very similar in function, but they are very different in forms. The one has the form of letter of credits but the other has the form of guarantee. The letter of credit has the stability of governing rule, the legal certainty, and the preference in the field of the trade community comparing to the guarantee. I recommend to use standby letter of credit instead of bank guarantee in international transactions because of the merits of the credit aforesaid.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.71
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• pp.85-105
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• 2016

Independent guarantee is new financial product developed in international commercial transaction. The nature of independent guarantee is an independent undertaking, which takes the form of documentary transaction. As long as the documents presented by the beneficiary are on their face complying with the terms and conditions of the guarantee, the guarantor is obliged to pay upon the complying presentation. Where parties choose to apply for issue of independent guarantee in international commercial transactions in China, Chinese court shall respect the autonomy of parties. If either the guarantor or the beneficiary is located outside of China, or the facts which cause the establishment, change or cancellation of independent guarantee relationship occurred outside of China, it shall be deemed as foreign related independent guarantee. If the interested parties requests for confirmation of the independence of foreign related independent guarantee, it shall be supported by Chinese court. However, parties dealing with Chinese domestic commercial transaction have not fully realized the severity of independent guarantee liability. The market credit is being cultivated and the financial innovation is being explored at present in China. In order to guard against the systematic and the regional financial risk, before relevant rules are promulgated, Chinese court shall not recognize the independence guarantees issued for the domestic commercial transaction, but treat it as joint liability surety.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.61
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• pp.213-245
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• 2014

This study has significance in examining the formation requirements and notes for concluding the guarantee contract of minimizing interests and conflicts with the concerned parties by examining issues related to the legal relation and demand payment in the concerned parties and by figuring out the provisions of conformity related to the requirements for demand payment pertinent to the documentary provision in relation to characteristics of demand guarantee. What the concerned parties of using demand guarantee grasp the requirements for demand payment of being compliant with the essence and the guarantee condition of the demand guarantee will lead to possibly preventing a dispute caused by disagreement and being secured the fulfillment of underlying contract. To fulfill a underlying contract that is the objective of issuing the demand guarantee, an effort is needed that minimizes a contract-based risk and a cost by being fully aware of a relevant rule that will be recorded in the terms of payment in the demand guarantee, by reflecting the interests between the concerned parties, and by discussing the payment terms.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.26
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• pp.203-223
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• 2005

Many international transactions involve the use of security devices, commonly referred to as "guarantees", "bonds", or "standby credits", designed to protect one of the parties from a breach by its counter-party. These security mechanisms may be provided by banks, insurance companies, specialized surety companies, or other financial service firms. Although some legal systems distinguish between "guarantees", "bonds", and "indemnities", these terms are often used as synonyms in the everyday language of international traders. It may therefore be necessary to examine the particular characteristics and nature of the guarantee obligation in order to properly classify the guarantee. Two main categories of guarantee are demand and suretyship. Under a demand guarantee, the guarantor must pay on first demand by the beneficiary. The beneficiary only has to demand payment under the guarantee - there is no need to prove that the principal has actually defaulted on a contractual obligation. Under a suretyship or conditional guarantee, the obligation of the guarantor is triggered by the actual default or contractual breach of the principal, as evidenced in a document such as a court judgement or arbitral award against the principal. Guarantees have been widely used in the international business transactions. Main uses of guarantees are as follows : Performance Bonds/Guarantees, Bid(or Tender) Bonds/Guarantees, Advance Payment or Repayment Bonds/Guarantees, Retention Bonds/Guarantees, Maintenance(or Warranty) Bonds/Guarantees etc.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.159-173
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• 2000

Objectives : First, to restore reliability of oriental prescriptions that are effective against incurable diseases, Second, in the short term, to secure the validity of traditional remedies with the help of accumulated data and in the long term, develop new therapeutic methods and prescriptions in order to broaden its aspect in the field of medicine. Third, to maintain predominance on oriental therapeutic methods and put it into practical use based upon the results obtained by this paper. Methods : In the primary sub-thesis(herbalogical analytic methods applied on unknown oriental prescriptions), models of analytic method and in gathering information that could be put into practice are being revised In the secondary sub-thesis(method in gathering and analysing in dealing with oriental prescription), several statistical approaches and analysis on data that has been gathered are being revised. In the tertiary sub-thesis(research on legal guarantee of the offerer rights), an alternative scheme that covers the limitations of the legislative content in dealing with offerer rights is being revised Results : This research has revealed several problems, including those which were foreseen, in proceeding with the project. The prospect of the involvement of the medical personnel engaging in the field of oriental medicine was remarkably bright. Given the condition that the project will proceed as it follows, unknown oriental prescriptions and remedies which have been particularly ignored will eventually play an important role in clinical practice. Conclusions : It is clear to everyone that these oriental remedies will remain ignored by the public unless they gain popularity. Strict verifications on these oriental remedies are definitely needed in order to overcome this limitation. Finally, it should provide a momentum in the field of medicine in gaining popularity to the public.