Key Points
- Mandatory liability insurance · Founders of health care institutions will be required to carry liability insurance or liability mutual aid covering liability for medical accidents (amended Article 47).
- Duty to explain an accident · If a patient dies, loses consciousness for one month or more, or suffers severe disability, the medical institution must explain to the patient's side what happened, how it happened, and the follow-up measures within seven days of learning of the accident. Expressions of regret made during the explanation cannot be used as evidence at trial (amended Article 5-2).
- Medical Accident Review Committee · For a booked case of occupational negligence causing death or injury, the committee reviews whether the treatment was high-risk essential medical care and whether there was gross negligence (amended Articles 51 and 52).
- Special criminal provisions · For accidents in high-risk essential medical care, a provision reducing the sentence (amended Article 55) and a provision barring indictment once all damages are paid (Article 56) may apply. However, gross negligence, failure to give the explanation, or lack of liability insurance excludes all of them.
1. New and changed systems under the amendments
- Mandatory liability insurance (amended Article 47) : Anyone who opens a hospital must carry liability insurance or liability mutual aid, and the state subsidizes premiums for high-risk essential medical care.
- Duty to explain medical accidents (Article 5-2) : A serious accident must be explained within seven days of learning of it, and expressions of regret cannot be used as evidence in civil or criminal trials.
- Definition of gross negligence (Article 2-2) : The law directly lists the 12 types described in Section 2 below.
- Medical Accident Review Committee (Articles 51 and 52) : Reviews whether the treatment was high-risk essential medical care and whether there was gross negligence, and sends its results within 120 days.
- Wider rule against prosecution against the victim's wishes (Article 54) : Indictment for negligent injury is restricted not only after mediation or arbitration but also when a civil conciliation or a court's settlement recommendation decision becomes final. Failure to explain or lack of insurance is excluded.
- Reduced sentences for essential medical care (Article 55) : For occupational negligence causing death or injury in a high-risk essential medical care accident, the sentence may be reduced or waived.
- Restriction on indictment for essential medical care (Article 56) : If the damages are paid in full, no indictment may be brought, even in a death case.
2. The scope of "gross negligence"
Amended Article 2-2 lists 12 types of medical acts classified as gross negligence. Typical examples include performing surgery, a blood transfusion, or general anesthesia different from what the patient was told about and consented to; performing a procedure carrying serious risk to life or body without explanation and consent; failing to diagnose, monitor, treat, or transfer a patient when death or serious bodily harm was foreseeable; leaving an instrument or foreign object inside the body; mistaking the patient or the surgical site; and transfusing the wrong blood. Medical acts that deviate greatly from clinical guidelines, reuse of single-use instruments, and medication errors are treated as gross negligence only when they lead to death or serious bodily harm.
3. What changes for patients and bereaved families
- After a serious accident, you can receive an explanation from the hospital of how it happened within seven days.
- With liability insurance becoming mandatory, the sources from which compensation can be paid will expand.
- In essential medical care accidents, receiving full damages may restrict criminal indictment, so the relationship between the criminal and civil sides must be considered together.
- The patient's side can also apply to the Medical Accident Review Committee for review.
4. What changes for doctors
- To benefit from the special provisions, you must have fulfilled the duty to explain the accident and carry liability insurance.
- A doctor who has been booked can also apply for review, and during the review the Minister of Health and Welfare may ask the police to refrain from summoning the doctor (amended Article 52(4)).
- Because apologies and expressions of regret made during the explanation do not become evidence of liability, doctors will be able to communicate more actively with patients after an accident.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the new law apply to medical accident cases already in progress?
Once the special rules for essential medical care take effect, will doctors escape punishment?
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Read more →Written on the basis of Korean statutes in force (National Law Information Center, Ministry of Government Legislation) and court precedents as of October 20, 2026. Results may differ with amendments to the law or the facts of each case. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Written and reviewed by Attorney Dongwoo Shin — Ph.D. in Law; certified criminal law specialist and certified divorce law specialist registered with the Korean Bar Association. He handles each case personally from consultation to judgment. About the attorney →
Last updated October 20, 2026
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