Case Analysis / Legal Updates

A company in need of financial regulatory advisory should examine how over-the-counter derivatives transactions are connected to actual stock market transactions. The Supreme Court recently held that, where an order using a CFD (contract for difference) passes through a securities firm and leads to a price-manipulative transaction in actual listed shares, market manipulation under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act may be established. (Supreme Court, Decision of May 20, 2026, 2025 Do 21859)

The S Electronics general strike, which began with a dispute over performance pay, is regarded as a case that exposed internal organizational conflict, supply-chain risk, and the structural problems of having multiple labor unions. In particular, because this situation brought the expansion of performance-compensation-focused unions together with a full-fledged clash of interests among business divisions, commentators have noted the need for changes in how companies manage collective bargaining and labor-relations risk.

An era in which companies themselves choose the schedule of a corporate tax audit has begun. This article examines the tax-audit timing selection system, which takes full effect in April 2026.

A wife who secretly installed a voice recorder to obtain evidence of her spouse's infidelity was recently given a suspended sentence (a suspended sentence under Korean law, broadly comparable to a suspended sentence or probation in common-law systems, under which the conviction loses its effect once the suspension period passes without incident) of imprisonment. Accordingly, questions are being raised about the need to secure evidence lawfully in infidelity and affair-partner litigation, as well as the need to respond to the risk of criminal punishment.

Jang Yun-gi (23), the suspect in the Gwangju high school girl murder case, was found through the investigation to have originally been searching for a woman he had been stalking and then to have changed his target, killing a high school girl whom he had never met. As a result, concern is growing over the pattern in which stalking crimes escalate into violent crimes. This case involves not only the crime of murder but also attempted murder, preparation for murder, and stalking, and the importance of victim protection and personal-safety responses is again drawing attention.

In a wage litigation case in which the issue was whether the 20% annual delay interest rate under the Labor Standards Act applies to interim-settlement severance pay disbursed during the period of employment, the Supreme Court held that this provision does not apply to interim-settlement severance pay (Supreme Court, Decision of March 12, 2026, 2025 Da 214123).

In a case raising the question of whether criminal punishment was possible on the ground that an employer had failed to comply with the Labor Relations Commission's order of reinstatement to the original position even after a fixed-term labor-provision contract had ended, the Supreme Court held that, if it was not made clear in the Labor Relations Commission's determination that a duty of reinstatement continued to exist after the contract term ended, the crime of violating a remedy order is difficult to establish.The Supreme Court reasoned that, because a remedy order of the Labor Relations Commission serves as the premise for criminal punishment, its content must be clear enough for the employer to recognize, and that criminal liability cannot be found without a determination as to whether the contractual relationship continued after the contract term ended; accordingly, it reversed and remanded the lower judgment. (Supreme Court, Decision of April 30, 2026, 2023 Do 8049)

In a construction claim case, a ruling emerged in which liability for damages was recognized even though the noise from the construction site was within the statutory living-noise standards. (Supreme Court, Judgment of April 13, 2023, 2022 Da 210000)

Environmental disputes can have a considerable impact on the overall operation of a business, as they may extend beyond civil claims for damages to administrative dispositions, business suspension, restoration orders, and even criminal liability.In a case where a company that recycled waste as fill material at a building and civil engineering construction site received a corrective order on the ground that contaminants exceeding the soil contamination concern standard were detected, the Supreme Court held that "even if the recycling standards contain no express provision, the compliance requirements for preventing environmental contamination apply separately."This judgment merits reference in practice, in that the court interpreted the regulations with a focus on the purpose of environmental protection and the principle of precaution in an environmental dispute concerning waste recycling. (Supreme Court, Decision of April 3, 2025, 2023 Du 31454)

In a case raising the question of whether the public-law obligations concerning waste generated at a business site are succeeded to when that site of a business-site waste discharger is acquired through an auction, the Supreme Court held that waste left outside the business site is also, in principle, included within the scope of succession.However, the Supreme Court held that liability cannot be imposed uniformly even in cases where the purchaser did not know of the existence of the external waste and had justifiable grounds for not knowing.The lower court held that, once a business site has been acquired through an auction, the obligation to treat waste located outside the business site is likewise wholly succeeded to. The Supreme Court, however, found that examination of the purchaser's ability to recognize the waste and of the principle of self-responsibility was necessary, and it reversed and remanded the lower judgment. (Supreme Court, Decision of January 15, 2026, 2023 Du 62830)

As the rise in international oil prices and exchange-rate volatility triggered by recent instability in the Middle East continues, tension is spreading across the domestic supply chain as a whole. In response, the government has decided to pursue the priority supply of raw materials for essential medical items, such as surgical gowns, surgical drapes, and medical waste bags, for which production disruptions are feared due to instability in the supply of petrochemical raw materials. This is a measure that recognizes the medical supply chain as a strategic national domain and responds accordingly. Accordingly, companies, too, increasingly need to build a stable supply chain that is not shaken by external volatility and to prepare response strategies tailored to each raw-material supply scenario.

As military tensions and geopolitical risks in the Middle East have expanded, a clear shift has also emerged in global capital flows. As confidence in certain regions previously regarded as stable financial hubs has wavered, Hong Kong, the financial center of Asia, has drawn renewed attention while enjoying the resulting benefits.In particular, with the recent increase in capital inflows, the fact that Hong Kong is shifting its strategy toward a “composite hub” that extends beyond a financial center to encompass the technology industry is regarded as a change that also carries significant meaning for Korean technology companies.