[1] The legal nature of accident compensation benefits paid to workers who suffered from occupational accidents in the closed mine as part of the mine closure countermeasure expenses pursuant to Article 41 (3) 4 of the former Enforcement Decree of the Coal Industry Act

[2] In a case where an employee who has been engaged in dusty work was not determined as a disability grade before the date of the closure of a mine but the condition of disability becomes worse after the date of the closure of a mine or where there was no change in the form of pneumoconiosis or cardiopulmonary function after the date of the closure of a mine, but the disability grade is determined by the revision of the criteria for determining a pneumoconiosis disability grade under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, whether it constitutes “a person whose disability grade has not been determined as of the date of the closure of a mine regardless of the date of the occurrence of a disaster” under Article 41(3)4

[1] As a part of the mine closure countermeasure expenses, the disaster compensation benefits paid to workers suffering from occupational accidents in the closed mine is characterized by the consolation benefits paid in addition to the ordinary accident compensation in a social security level in the light of social security for workers suffering from special difficulties, such as occupational accidents, while continuing coal mines in light of the domestic coal supply and demand situation, which are not considered desirable for the balanced development of the national economy.

[2] Comprehensively taking account of the contents of the relevant provisions and the legislative purpose of the accident compensation benefits paid as part of the mine closure expenses based on the characteristics of pneumoconiosis, where a worker engaged in dusty was not determined as a disability grade before or after the date of the mine closure, where the condition of disability was aggravated after the date of the mine closure or where the form of pneumoconiosis or cardiopulmonary function was not changed after the date of the mine closure, but the disability grade was determined by the revision of the criteria for determining pneumoconiosis disability grades under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, it constitutes “a person whose disability grade has not been determined as of the date of the mine closure notwithstanding the period of the accident occurrence” under Article 41(3)4 of the former Enforcement Decree of the Coal Industry Act (amended by Presidential Decree No. 13216, Dec. 31, 190).

[1] Article 39-3 (1) of the former Coal Industry Act (amended by Act No. 4541 of March 6, 1993); Article 41 (3) 4 (see current Article 41 (3) 5) of the former Enforcement Decree of the Coal Industry Act (amended by Presidential Decree No. 13216 of December 31, 1990) / [2] Article 39-3 (1) of the former Coal Industry Act (amended by Act No. 4541 of March 6, 1993); Article 41 (3) 4 (see current Article 41 (3) 5) of the former Enforcement Decree of the Coal Industry Act (amended by Presidential Decree No. 13216 of December 31, 1990)

[1] Supreme Court Decision 2001Du9592 decided Mar. 29, 2002 (Gong2002Sang, 1027)

Plaintiff (Law Firm Persons, Attorneys Park Sung-min et al., Counsel for the plaintiff-appellant)

Korea Mine Reclamation Corporation (Attorney Kim Jong-tae, Counsel for the plaintiff-appellant)

Seoul High Court Decision 2017Nu35600 decided October 26, 2017

The appeal is dismissed. The costs of appeal are assessed against the defendant.

The grounds of appeal are examined (to the extent of supplement in case of supplemental appellate briefs not timely filed).

1. A. Article 39-3(1) of the former Coal Industry Act (amended by Act No. 4541, Mar. 6, 1993) provides that when a coal mining business operator of a mine subject to the payment of the expenses for mine closure is registered for the extinction of the relevant mining right, mining concession right, or continuing operation right, the coal industry rationalization business entity shall pay the following amounts to the retired workers, coal mining business operators, etc. of the mine in question as the expenses for mine closure, and subparagraph 4 of Article 41(3)4 of the former Enforcement Decree of the Coal Industry Act (amended by Presidential Decree No. 13216, Dec. 31, 1990; hereinafter “instant provision”) provides that “If a retired worker suffers from an occupational accident within one year after the date of mine closure and the disability grade of the mine in question has not been determined as of the date of closure, the amount of the disaster compensation benefits shall be the same as the lump-sum compensation benefits under Article 9(1)6 of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act.”

As part of the mine closure countermeasure expenses, the disaster compensation benefits paid to workers who suffered from occupational accidents in the closed mine is the consolation benefits paid in addition to the ordinary accident compensation in a social security level for workers who are suffering from special difficulties such as occupational change due to the mine’s mine’s mine’s mine’s mine’s mine’s mine’s mine mine’s mine mine’s mine mine’s mine’s mine’s mine’s mine’s mine’s coal supply and demand in Korea. (See Supreme Court Decision 2001Du9592, Mar. 29, 2002).

B. In full view of the relevant provisions and the legislative purpose of the accident compensation benefits paid as part of the mine closure expenses based on the characteristics of pneumoconiosis, even if an employee engaged in dusty work failed to undergo the disability grade determination before or after the date of the mine closure, where the condition of disability becomes worse after the date of the mine closure, or where the disability grade is determined by the revision of the criteria for determining pneumoconiosis disability grades under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, although there is no change in the form of pneumoconiosis or cardiopulmonary function after the date of the mine closure, it shall be deemed that “a person whose disability grade has not been determined as of the date of the mine closure regardless of the period of the occurrence of a disaster” under the instant provisions.

1) In light of the fact that “the person whose disability grade has been determined one year prior to the closing date, due to a disaster,” the instant provision excluded the person eligible for disaster compensation benefits from the person eligible for disaster compensation, and “the person whose disability grade has been determined within one year retroactively from the closing date, or the person whose disability grade has not been determined as of the closing date, regardless of the period of the occurrence of a disaster,” is highly likely to not receive appropriate compensation from the coal mining agent for the occupational accident, and thus, included in the person eligible for disaster compensation benefits.

2) Pneumoconiosis is a representative occupational accident that may occur to workers in the coal mining center. Although modern medical science is unable to completely recover from the workplace where dust has occurred, it is difficult to predict the progress, while it is also difficult to predict the degree of progress (see Supreme Court Decision 98Du5149, Jun. 22, 199). Also, when pneumoconiosis is exposed to several pneumoconiosiss, it is exposed to a variety of complications, and the medical care benefits are paid for the treatment of complications caused by pneumoconiosis. Considering these characteristics of pneumoconiosis, it is difficult to view that there was a determination of disability at the time of the date of the closure, and it is difficult to view that there was a state where the pneumoconiosis was fixed due to the existence of a determination of disability at the time of the date of the closure, and whether the disability grade was granted after the date of the immediate occurrence of the pneumoconiosis or gradually aggravated, it is merely an unexpected situation based on the acceleration rate of pneumoconiosis difficult to predict.

3) Article 41(4)5 Item (b) of the Enforcement Decree of the Coal Act, amended by Presidential Decree No. 1705 of Dec. 29, 2000, provides that “A person who is under medical care or under medical care due to a disaster and whose disability grade has not been determined shall submit a written confirmation of determination of medical care or a written confirmation of application for industrial accident compensation insurance.” However, this is merely an internal administrative rule of the defendant and is not externally binding (see Supreme Court Decision 98Du12598 delivered on Jan. 26, 1991).” However, Article 41(4)5 Item (b) of the Enforcement Decree of the Coal Industry Act, amended by Presidential Decree No. 1705 of Dec. 29, 200, provides that “A person who received medical care benefits under Article 40(2) of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act as of the date of closure or whose disability grade has not been determined.” However, this provision is not applicable to a person who received prior to the amendment of the Rules (2).

4) The instant provision is based on “determination” rather than “determination of a disability grade.” In light of the characteristics of pneumoconiosis symptoms, the purport of the instant provision is to pay disaster consolation benefits according to the final determined disability grade in the event of a change, on the premise that the determination of a disability grade as of the closing date may be subsequently changed.

5) The instant provision does not require that an occupational accident caused by the mining center’s work may be given a disability grade on the basis of the date of closure. As of the date of closure, the injury or disease for which symptoms have not been fixed as a result of completing the healing process cannot be identified later or to a certain degree of disability. There is no reasonable ground to exclude the “worker in the process of treating occupational injury or disease as of the date of closure” from the subject of disaster consolation benefits by treating “worker in the process of treating occupational injury or disease as of the date of closure,” unlike “worker in the process of treating it as of the date of closure,” and there is no reason to exclude him from the subject of accident consolation benefits. Therefore, the text of the instant provision does not exclude it from the subject of accident consolation benefits. Therefore, insofar as it is apparent that the occupational disease caused by pneumoconiosis due to the mining center’s work was determined after the date of closure

6) For this reason, the Supreme Court held that “a person whose disability grade has not been determined as of the date of the closure of a disaster regardless of the period of the occurrence of a disaster” under the provision of this case includes a re-employed worker who was subject to additional medical care due to the occurrence of a merger certificate that caused the relevant injury or disease after the date of the closure of the mine or due to the recurrence of the relevant injury or the relevant injury, and that the difference between the disaster compensation benefits according to the first disability grade should be additionally paid (see Supreme Court Decision 98Du12598 delivered on January 26, 199). Considering the specificity of the symptoms of pneumoconiosis, there is no reason to treat otherwise “where the first disability grade has been determined after additional medical care,” and “where the first disability grade has been determined after additional medical care, and then the first disability grade has been determined after the aggravation of symptoms.”

7) In the past, even if having received diagnosis of pneumoconiosis 1 type prior to the date of mine closure, the fact that the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act was not granted a disability grade under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act is not due to lack of the legal basis for granting a disability grade, but because there was no need for protection. Article 57 [Attachment 5] of the Enforcement Rule of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (amended by Ordinance of the Ministry of Labor No. 193 of July 1, 2003) which was excluded from the previous disability grade “the disability grade standard for pneumoconiosis workers” was added to “the person with no cardiopulmonary function disability (F0), whose type of pneumoconiosis 1 type has been determined as a type 13, because the scope of disability grade recognition for pneumoconiosis symptoms in the past is too limited and that there is a need for protection for workers with pneumoconiosis who have been determined as a type 1less disability under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act. Article 3(3) of the Addenda to the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act applies to the determination of a disability grade after the enforcement of the amended Rules on the disability grade of pneumoconiosis.

2. The reasoning of the lower judgment reveals the following facts.

A. From February 20, 1986 to August 31, 1990, the Plaintiff retired from office as a mining source belonging to the Plaintiff’s mining center of this case.

B. On April 28, 1987, when the Plaintiff was working at the mining center of this case, the Plaintiff was diagnosed with the pneumoconiosis symptoms of "no type 1/1 of pneumoconiosis disease type, and no complication," and the mining center of this case was closed on November 16, 1990.

C. On February 18, 1997, the Plaintiff diagnosed as “Type 3/2 of pneumoconiosis disease type, and Grade 11 of the cardiopulmonary function F0 (normal)” and received KRW 10,878,560 as the lump-sum disability compensation under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act on May 19, 197. As a result of the precise diagnosis of pneumoconiosis on February 24, 2006, the Plaintiff received KRW 35,755,650, the difference in the lump-sum disability compensation under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act on August 4, 2006.

3. Examining the above facts in light of the legal principles as seen earlier, the Plaintiff was diagnosed with pneumoconiosis before the date of the closure of the mining center in this case, but even if there was no change in the form of pneumoconiosis or cardiopulmonary function after the date of the closure of the mining center, the criteria for determining the pneumoconiosis disability grade under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act was revised on July 1, 2003 and the disability grade 13 was determined. Since symptoms have deteriorated after the date of the closure of the mine and the final judgment of disability grade 7 was determined, the Plaintiff constitutes “a person whose disability grade has not been determined as of the date of the closure of the mining center.” Accordingly, the Defendant is obliged to pay the Plaintiff disaster consolation benefits equivalent to the amount of lump-sum disability compensation benefits under the Industrial

In the same purport, the lower court determined that the Defendant was liable to pay disaster compensation benefits under the instant provision to the Plaintiff. In so determining, the lower court did not err by misapprehending the legal doctrine on the subject of disaster compensation benefits under the Coal Industry Act and subordinate statutes, as otherwise stated

4. Therefore, the appeal is dismissed, and the costs of appeal are assessed against the losing party. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices on the bench.

Justices Noh Jeong-hee (Presiding Justice)