• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.263-305
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• 2009

Is it lawful to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment applied to a patient in a terminal condition or permanent unconscious condition? In Korea, there are no such laws or regulations which control affairs related to the withholding or withdrawal life-support treatment and active euthanasia as the Natural Death Act or the Death with Dignity Act in the U. S. A. And in addition there has had no precedent of Supreme Court. Recently Supreme Court has pronounced a historical judgment on a terminal care case. The court allowed the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from a patient in a permanent unconscious state. Fundamentally the court judged that the continuation of that medical treatment would infringe dignity and value of a patient as a human being. And the court required some legal grounds to consider such withdrawal or withholding of medical care lawful. The legal grounds are as follow. First, the patient is in a incurable and irreversible condition and already entered a stage of death. Second, the patient executed a directive, in advance, directing the withholding or withdrawal of life-support treatment in a incurable and irreversible condition or in a terminal condition. Otherwise, at least, the patient's will would be presumed through his/her character, view of value, philosophy, religious faith and career etc. I regard if a patient is in a incurable and irreversible condition or in a terminal condition, the medical contract between a patient and a doctor would be terminated because of the actual impossibility of achievement of it's purpose. So I think the discontinuation of life-sustaining care would be legally allowed without depending on the patient's own will.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.225-261
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• 2005

Under Article IV of the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention), in order to obtain the recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award, a party applying for recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award shall supply (a) the duly authenticated original award or a duly certified copy thereof and (b) the original arbitration agreement or a duly certified copy thereof. In addition, if the arbitral award or arbitration agreement is not made in an official language of the country in which the award is relied upon, the party applying for recognition and enforcement of the award shall produce a translation of these documents into such language, and the translation shall be certified by an official or sworn translator or by a diplomatic or consular agent. In a case where a Vietnamese company which had obtained a favorable arbitral award in Vietnam applied for recognition and enforcement of a Vietnamese arbitral award before a Korean court, the recent Korean Supreme Court Judgment (Docket No. 2004 Da 20180. 'Judgment') rendered on December 12, 2004 has alleviated the document requirements as follows : The Judgment held that (i) the party applying for recognition andenforcement of a foreign arbitral award does not have to strictly comply with the document requirements when the other party does not dispute the existence and the content of the arbitral award and the arbitration agreement and that (ii) in case the translation submitted to the court does not satisfy the requirement of Article 4, the court does not have to dismiss the case on the ground that the party applying for recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award has failed to comply with the translation requirement under Article 4, and instead may supplement the documents by obtaining an accurate Korean translation from an expert translator at the expense of the party applying for recognition and enforcement of the foreign arbitral award. In this regard, the author fully supports the view of the Judgment. Finally, the Judgment held that, even though the existence of a written arbitration agreement was not disputed at the arbitration, there was no written arbitration agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant and wenton to repeal the judgment of the second instance which admitted the existence of a written arbitration agreement between the parties. In this regard, the author does not share the view of the Judgment. The author believes that considering the trend of alleviating the formality requirement of arbitration agreements under Article 2 of the New York Convention, the Supreme Court could have concluded that there was a written arbitration agreement because the defendant participated in thearbitration proceedings in Vietnam without disputing the formality requirement of the arbitration agreement. Or the Supreme Court should have taken the view that the defendant was no longer permitted to dispute the formality requirement of the arbitration agreement because otherwise it would be clearly against the doctrine of estoppel.

• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.1-42
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• 2011

In terms of seaborne contacts of Vietnamese court with foreign countries had two directions in the 19th century. One was with Island Southeast Asian ports such as Singapore, Malacca, Penang, Batavia, and Manila. The other direction was to Canton. The Canton contact of Vietnam again can be interpreted as one of the two directions of Vietnamese contact with China. The inland route far to Beijing was based on the political and diplomatic consideration, while the closer route to Canton by the court vessels was more for the economic consideration as the case for the contact with the Island Southeast Asia. In this article, author discusses three issues to illuminate the nature of the trips of the court vessels of the Nguyễn dynasty to Canton. First is to clarify detail itinerary of the trip from the Thuận An Estuary to the City of Canton via Đà Nãng and Hanan. Unlike to the Western ships that visited Canton but anchored at the Huang Fu, Vietnamese square-rigged/copper-bottomed ships sailed up the Pearl river to the Guangzhou city front to stay for four or five months before they returned to Vietnam. In the second chapter, various kinds of observation of the Vietnamese officials are discussed. If the objects of the observation are divided into two categories, one is the world Westerners in Canton, and the other is the world of Chinese. In a same place, Canton, the Vietnamese officials could have enough chance to compare the two worlds clearly. An important consequence for the Vietnamese officials was to conclude that the mechanical technology of the Westerners was better than that of Chinese. This kind of conclusion led the Vietnamese court to send court personnels to learn Western technologies and languages in the port cities of Island Southeast Asia and to enlarge contacts with them. In the last chapter, author tries to find out the items that the Vietnamese mission purchased in Canton in exchange to the Vietnamese products. The items that the Vietnamese mission purchased included ceramics, silk, books, and medicines. With the support of the Chinese settlers in Vietnam the mission was able to be involved in the deal of illegal items such as opium, and possibly some kinds of precious ginseng from Korea. Overall, the process of the itinerary, observation, and purchase during the trip to Canton was the way to form the new point of view of Vietnamese intellectuals towards China standing from the side of Westerners. To the Vietnamese who experienced both Canton/Macao and the Western worlds in the port cities of Island Southeast Asia China was not the only center of the world, nor the Westerners could be looked down as the barbarians. In Canton, a peripheral region looked from the imperial capital Beijing, but the most internationalized city of China at that time, Vietnamese officials were training themselves to overcome China.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.199-247
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• 2012

According to the review and analysis of medical cases that are assigned to the Supreme Court and all local High Court in 2011 and that are presented in the media, it was found that the following categories were taken seriously, medical and pharmaceutical product liability, the third principle of trust between medical institutions, negligence and causation estimation, responsibility limit, the meaning of medical records and related judgment of disturbed substantiation, Oriental doctors' duties to explain the procedures, IMS events, whether one can claim for each medical care operated by non-physician health care institutions to the nonmedical domain in the National Health Insurance Corporation, and the basis of norms for each claim. In the cases related to medical pharmaceutical product liability, Supreme Court alleviated burden of proof for accidents with medical and pharmaceutical products prior to the practice of Product Liability Law and onset the point of negative prescription as the time of damage strikes to condition feasibility of the specific situation. In the cases related to the 3rd principle of trust between medical institutions, the Supreme Court refused to sentence the doctor who has trusted the judgment of the same third-party doctors the violations of the care duty. With respect to proof of a causal relationship and damages in a medical negligence case, the Supreme Court decided that it is unjust to deny negligence by the materials of causal relationship rejecting the original verdict and clarified that the causal relationship shall not deny the reasons to limit doctors' responsibilities. In order not put burden on patients with disadvantages in which medical records and the description of the practice or the most fundamental and important evidence to prove negligence and causation are being neglected, the Supreme Court admitted in the hospital's responsibility for the case of the neonate death of suffocation without properly listed fetal heart rate and uterine contraction monitor. On the other hand, the Seoul Western District Court has admitted alimony for altering and forging medical records. With respect to doctors' obligations to description, the Supreme Court decided that it is necessary to explain the foreseen risks by the combination of oriental and western medicines emphasizing the right of patient's self-determination. However, questions have arisen whether it is realistically feasible or not. In a case of an unlicensed doctor performing intramuscular stimulation treatment (IMS), the Supreme Court put off its decision if it was an unlicensed medical practice as to put limitation of eastern and western medical practices, but it declared that IMS practice was an acupuncture treatment therefore the plaintiff's conduct being an illegal act. In the future, clear judgment on this matter should be made. With respect to the claim of bills from non-physical health care institutions, the Supreme Court decided to void it for the implementation of the arrangement is contrary to the commitments made in the medical law and therefore, it is invalid to claim. In addition, contrast to the private healthcare professionals, who are subject to redemption according to the National Healthcare Insurance Law, the Seoul High Court explicitly confirmed that the non-professionals who receive the tort operating profit must return the unjust enrichment and have the liability for damages. As mentioned above, a relatively wide range of topics were discussed in medical field of 2011. In Korea's health care environment undergoing complex changes day by day, it is expected to see more diverse and in-depth discussions striding out to the development in the field of health care.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.211-253
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• 2005

Recently, the Korean Supreme Court released two important decisions concerning damages for the pain and suffering from Aircraft noise. The local people who are living near the Air Force practice site at Maehyang-ri and the Kimpo International Airport brought lawsuits against the Korean government requesting damages for their financial loss from the severe noise and the damages for their pain and suffering. Plaintiffs alleged that they suffered physical malfunctions, extreme disturbances and the reduction of property values from the extreme noises which were daily repeated. District Court of Seoul Province did not allow plaintiffs all but the damages for pain and suffering. Plaintiffs could not prove the causation between their financial loss and the noise. The Supreme Court confirmed the lower court's decision. Article V of the National Compensation Act (analogous to the Federal Tort Claims Act of the USA) reads, "the government shall be liable for any loss caused by the defect on establishment or maintenance of public facilities." In the two cases, the major issue was whether the government's establishment or maintenance of Air Force practice site and the airport was defective because they caused serious noise to surrounding neighbors. Previously, the Supreme Court interpreted the clause "defect on establishment or maintenance of public facilities" as failure of duty to provide safety measures to the degree generally required to ordinary manager. However the Court at this time interpreted differently that the defect could be found if the facility caused to any person loss to the degree intolerable. In the two cases the Court confirmed the lower court's finding that noise level at the site was severe enough to be intolerable. This standard is based on the severity of the loss rather than the failure of duty. It became easier for plaintiffs to prove the cause of action under this interpretation. The consequence of the ruling of these two cases is 'rush to the courtroom' by the local people at similar situations. The ruling of these two cases was not appropriate both in theory and in consequence. The Korean tort system is basically based on the theory of negligence. Strict liability is exceptional only when there is special legislation. The Court created strict liability rule by interpreting the Art. V of the National Compensation Act. This is against the proper role of the court. The result of the cases is also dismal. The government was already sued by a number of local people for damages. Especially the Department of Defense which is operating many airports nationwide has financial hardship, which will cause downsizing military practice by the Air Force in the long run, This is no good to anyone. Tens of millions of dollars which might be used for compensation might be better used to prevent further noise problem surrounding airports.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.85-112
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• 2005

The purposes of this paper are to investigate how deeply the courts in Korea and the U.S. are involved in the enforcement process of the arbitral award. The extent of judicial review of arbitral award and the procedures to execute the arbitral award were explored and compared in each of the countries. In Korea the winning party should file a suit for enforcement judgement to execute the arbitral award, while the winning party in the U.S. should file an application for motion. Such difference in the execution process between Korea and the U.S. may be led to a higher burden on the Korean winning party in the execution process due to the complexity and instability during the new litigation for enforcement judgement. In addition, the Korean Arbitration Act does not grant any authority for the court to intervene with the substantive matters in the arbitral award, while in the U.S. the Common Law allows the court to vacate the arbitral ward when the arbitral award is entered with the manifest disregard of the law by the arbitral tribunal. It would be more practical for the court to supplementarily intervene with the arbitral award which obviously hurts the legal interest of the arbitral parties.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.71-78
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• 2002

For the first Maritime Accident Inquiry System in Korea, Central Marine Accidents Inquiry Committee were founded in Seoul and District Marine Accidents Inquiry Committee in Busan city In 1963 to determine the circumstances of the accidents and causes. At the present day, it was settled as Maritime Safety Tribunal tough several revision of the Law and regulations regarding the Maritime Accident Inquiry System. In Korea, there occurred about m cases of marine accident, and as a result, about 200 people were lost human lives in average per year. In accordance with the change of circumstances such as traffic increasing and being bigger in size, being faster in speed, etc., the causes of the marine accidents become complicated year by year. Accordingly, in this moment, it is meaningful that the introduction of the Research Official who assists the Judges probing the cases fair and square. In this Paper, with the consideration of the several kinds of Research Official System, such as the Research Official of the Korean Supreme Court, the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office and the Constitutional Court, Japanese Supreme Court, Law Clerk in USA, etc., the selection, numbers, duty of the Research Official were studied. The results of the study are as follows; 1. The Research Official to be appointed among the person having long enough career as a Judge, Investigator engaged in the Maritime Safety Tribunal due to he sho띨d have capability to confirm perfectly logical judgement and to collect enough material for the conclusion of the causes of the case. The one who understands the foreign language is preferred for the study of the foreign cases; 2. It will be logical to post 3 joint Research Officials in Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal in Seoul after due consideration the cases treated a year; 3. It will be logical for the Research Official to perform the collection of material and inspection of the scene for the trial and inquiry of the cases, to attend the cases filed suit to the Supreme Court, to make commentarial papers regarding the judged cases, to collect statistics of marine accidents and to devise a reform measure through in-depth analysis of the accidents frequently occurred, to study for the improvement of the Maritime Accident Inquiry System;

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.3-39
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• 2019

Even after the Constitutional Court decided on August 23, 2012 that the provisions of abortion were constitutional, discussions on the abolition of abortion continued. The controversy about abortion is not only happening recently, but it has already existed since the time when the Penal Code was enacted, and it shares the history of modern legislation with the Republic of Korea. Legislators whom submitted amendment while insisting upon the eradication of abortion in the process of enacting criminal law at that time, presented social and economic adaptation reasons as the core reason. From then on, the abolition of abortion has been discussed during the development dictatorship, but this was not intended to guarantee women's human rights, but it was closely connected to the national policy projects of "Contraception" and "Family Planning" of the Park's dictatorship. Since then, the enactment of the Mother and Child Health Law, which restrictively allow artificial abortion, was held on February 8, 1973, in an emergency cabinet meeting that replaced the legislative power after the National Assembly was disbanded. It became effected May 10th. The reason behind the Mother and Child Health Law that included legalization of abortion in part was that the Revitalizing Reform at that time did not allow any opinion, so it seem to be it was difficult for the religious to express opposition. The "Maternal and Child Health Law" enacted in this way has been maintained through several amendments. It can be seen that the question of maintenance of abortion has been running on parallel lines without any significant difference from the time when the Penal Code was enacted. On August 23, 2012, the Constitutional Court decided that the Constitutional Opinion and the unonstitutional Opinion were 4: 4. However, it was decided by the Constitution without satisfying the quorum for unconstitutional decision of the Constitutional Court. This argument about abolition of abortion is settled for the the time being with the decision of the constitutional inconsistency of the Constitutional Court, and now, the National Assembly bears the issue of new legislation. In other words, the improved legislation must be executed until December 31, 2020, and if the previous improved legislation is not implemented, the crime of abortion (Article 269, Paragraph 1, Article 270 of the Criminal Code) Article 1 (1) will cease to be effective from 1 January 2021. Therefore, in the following, we will look into the reason of the Constitutional Court's constitutional discordance adjudication on criminal abortion(II), and how it structurally differs from the previous Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court. After considering key issues arised from the constitutional discordance adjudication(III), the legislative direction and within the scope of legislative discretion in accordance with the criteria presented by the Constitutional Court We reviewed the proposed revisions to the Penal Code and the Mather and Child Health Act of Korea(IV).

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.255-275
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• 2013

The purpose of the study is to examine compliance criteria for documents of the Letter of Credit(L/C) by the Korean Supreme Court in practical use. The judgement criteria of the court in documents' examination is supported by the doctrine of strict compliance. And, in examination of documents by the Supreme Court, the difference between documents presented and the credit should be followed by the allowance of international standard banking practices. In this case, the Supreme Court makes a reference for ICC's opinion or decision proposed as the international standard banking practices, or otherwise admit by exploring the practices. However, when documents reviewing by the bankers' auditors, it is very difficult for them to judge in a short time due to the lack of high level of knowledges and insights. As shown the cases of this study, the doctrine of strict compliance of an L/C be relaxed, and most of the recent precedents be ruled by the exception of the doctrine. Because, therefore, it is difficult for to documents reviewers of bank to judge these consistencies, conducting arbitrary document review will be inevitable. As a result, it will be difficult for banks and applicants to ensure the strictness of the documents, and free use of L/Cs in international transactions will be avoided. Finally, the expanded usage of the electronic negotiation system that simplifies the highly difficult compliance criteria to ensure the strictness of documents will be needed, and not only be eradicated the acts of arbitrary documents examination practices, but also be promoted the freely usage of L/Cs.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.83-107
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• 2019

In order to resolve a dispute over a medical accident, the court is in the process of appraising the medical records for medical professionals to report their medical expertise or judgments using that knowledge. The consequences of expert opinion about a medical accident are only one of the methods of evidence as a reference. Therefore, in principle, the court should not be bound to the results, but the court, which is not a medical expert, can not completely rule out medical expert opinion as to whether there is medical malpractice and causality. Therefore, it can not be denied that the proportion of expert opinion of medical records in the dispute about medical accidents is high and it has an important influence on the judgement of the court. In this paper, we examine the significance and function of expert opinion of the medical accident, examine the appraising procedure of the medical records in the court and the appraising procedure of the medical accidents of the Korean medical dispute mediation arbitrator do. In addition, I would like to examine what kind of attitude is being taken in response to expert opinion of medical records in Korea to court, to examine the implications of the case of Japan as a foreign system, and to suggest improvement points in the expert opinion procedure of medical record filing in Korea. In particular, I would like to suggest improvements on issues such as the fairness of the expert opinion of medical records and the delays in litigation due to delays in the process of expert opinion.