The current Act stipulates that manufacturers shall compensate for damages to the life, body or property of a person caused by a defect of a product, and that if a manufacturer causes serious damage to life or body of a person as a result of not taking measures against a defect of a product despite the manufacturer’s knowledge of such defect, the manufacturer shall be liable for up to three times the damage sustained by the person.
However, critics point out that despite the ongoing occurrence of large-scale damage arising from such events as the humidifier disinfectant incident, melamine infant formula crisis, and BMW vehicle fires, consumers are unable to receive actual compensation as manufacturers have a low rate of liability insurance subscription, and even those that have subscribed have insufficient liability limits.
Accordingly, the Amendment adds proprietary damage to the scope of punitive damage liability, increases the limit of punitive damages to 10 times, and obligates manufacturers to subscribe to liability insurance, liability mutual aid, etc., to fulfill these liabilities for damages, thereby aiming to enable actual compensation for damages that may arise due to product defects (Article 3, Article 3-3, and Article 9).

Increase the limit of damage compensation (Article 3), prescribe compulsory insurance subscription (Article 3-3)