Q
I'm Australian, on a working holiday, leaving Korea in five weeks. Two months ago I was hit by a car while cycling — the driver ran a light; the police report says so. Fractured collarbone, surgery, eight weeks off work, ongoing physio. The driver's insurance company has been "handling" it: they paid the hospital directly, and now an adjuster has offered me a lump sum for "everything" that comes to about 2 million won. He says this is "standard," that since I'm "leaving anyway" I should "settle now," and that if I don't sign before I go, "the claim is closed."
I'm suspicious but I have no idea what a fair number is, whether my lost wages count, or whether I can pursue this after I've left. My Korean is minimal and the adjuster's English is worse.
Please tell me: (1) What am I actually entitled to under Korean law for an injury like this — beyond the hospital bills? (2) Is the "claim closes when you leave" line true? (3) Should I sign anything before I go, and if not, how do I pursue it from Australia?
A Answer
Do not sign. The "claim closes when you leave" line is not true; the offer is not "standard"; and a fractured collarbone with surgery, eight weeks off work and ongoing treatment is an injury for which Korean law provides compensation well beyond hospital bills — lost income, future treatment, and consolation money for the injury itself, with a permanent-impairment component if the collarbone leaves any. An adjuster's lump sum offered to a foreigner with a departure date is priced on the assumption that you will not check. Check.
What you are entitled to under Korean law
Liability is not in doubt: a driver who ran a light and struck a cyclist is liable under the Guarantee of Automobile Accident Compensation Act (자동차손해배상보장법, jadongcha sonhae baesang bojang-beop) and the Civil Act, and his insurer stands in his place. The damages categories a Korean court applies:
Medical expenses (치료비, chiryobi), past and future — including the physiotherapy you will continue in Australia, at a reasonable estimate.
Lost income (휴업손해, hueop sonhae) for the period you could not work, calculated on your actual earnings; where earnings are hard to prove, courts use a statutory daily wage floor.
Loss of future earning capacity (일실수익, ilsil suik), if the injury leaves a permanent impairment — assessed as a percentage by a medical evaluation and applied over working life; a collarbone fracture with full recovery may leave none, one with a plate and restricted motion may leave some.
Consolation money (위자료, wijaryo) for pain and suffering, which Korean courts set by reference to the injury's severity and the impairment rating.
Two million won does not cover eight weeks of anyone's wages, let alone the rest.
How insurers settle, and how courts differ
Korean insurers settle under their own payment standards, which are lower than what courts award; the gap is the reason personal-injury litigation exists here. A claimant who signs a settlement (합의, hapui) releases the claim in full — including future treatment and any impairment that appears later — for the amount stated. That is what "everything" means. Courts are not bound by insurer standards and apply the categories above.
The route, if the insurer will not pay a fair figure, is a civil action for damages against the insurer directly, which Korean law permits; or, before that, a demand from counsel with the itemized calculation, which often produces a materially better offer without filing. Cases of this kind also frequently resolve at court-supervised mediation.
Leaving Korea
The claim does not close when you leave. Limitation on a tort claim runs three years from the date you knew of the injury and the responsible party; you have years, not weeks. What leaving affects is practicality, and it is solved with a power of attorney (위임장, wiimjang) signed before you go — avoiding notarization and apostille from Australia — and a Korean bank account kept open to receive payment.
Evidence to secure before departure: the police accident report (교통사고 사실확인원, gyotong sago sasil hwaginwon), which you can request; your hospital records and the diagnosis certificate stating the injury and treatment period; the surgical report; your employment and pay records for the lost-income calculation; and receipts for everything the insurer did not pay. A medical opinion on likely permanent impairment is obtained through counsel, from a Korean hospital, and can be done before you leave or on documents later.
Your situation as a foreign national
Nothing about your visa affects your entitlement; a working-holiday visitor's lost wages are real wages. Interpretation for any interview or examination is arranged by counsel. The insurer's adjuster is not your representative and has no duty to explain your rights; his figure is his employer's.
What to do now, and what not to do
Do not sign the settlement or any "receipt" that contains release language. Do not accept a partial payment described as "final." Do request the police report and complete hospital records this week; sign the power of attorney; and have counsel put the itemized claim to the insurer before you fly, so that the negotiation starts from your number, not theirs.
Practical insight
Foreign accident victims in Korea sign low settlements for one reason: a departure date and an adjuster who mentions it. The departure date is irrelevant to the claim and highly relevant to the adjuster, who knows a signed release from someone on a plane is a closed file. The claimants who recover properly are the ones who left with a power of attorney and a records folder instead of a cheque. The difference, for an injury like yours, is not marginal.
Send us the police report and the diagnosis certificate and we can give you a realistic range before you meet the adjuster again — by text consultation or at +82-2-522-3959.
— MEGA X Law Firm Korea, Civil Litigation Team
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