A bill to expand compensation and support for victims of COVID-19 vaccination passed the subcommittee of the National Assembly's Legislative and Judiciary Committee on the 25th. It previously passed the Health and Welfare Committee, its relevant standing committee, in January, but was referred to the subcommittee two months later at the judgment of the committee chairman, who stated that a systematic review was needed. Since there is an agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, it is expected to pass the full committee meeting of the Legislative and Judiciary Committee and move on to the plenary session.
The Legislative and Judiciary Committee held a meeting of the bill review subcommittee that afternoon and approved the 'Special Act on Compensation for Damages Due to COVID-19 Vaccination.' This is President Yoon Suk-yeol's 'No. 1 pledge,' which was also promised by Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. At the time the bill passed the Welfare Committee, Lee stated, 'It was an instruction from the party leader' and noted, 'The state will take unlimited responsibility for vaccine damage.'
The special law expands the scope of compensation by presuming a causal relationship if there is a temporal correlation between COVID-19 vaccination and the occurrence of disease and death, and if the disease did not occur due to other causes. This action accepts claims that previously, the causal relationship for vaccine damage was recognized in an extremely limited manner, and thus compensation was not adequately provided.
The part that was initially problematic in the Legislative and Judiciary Committee was Article 5, Paragraph 3, which pertains to 'state compensation for damages.' The previous bill specified that 'support may be provided in accordance with the presidential decree if the necessity for support is recognized even if a causal relationship cannot be proven.'
This raised concerns that the clause would lead to 'vague' provisions. There were worries that unclear clauses could result in frivolous lawsuits. In particular, it was pointed out that if a causal relationship is inferred through factual evidence such as temporal correlation, it could lead to excessive compensation claims and may not align with other vaccinations.
The Legislative and Judiciary Committee revised the clause to state, 'Support may be provided for medical expenses, death compensation, etc., in accordance with the presidential decree if the necessity for support is recognized.' Yoon Sang-bum, a member of the People Power Party and the subcommittee chair, said, 'Only the ambiguous content has been revised, and the essence of the existing bill has been preserved.'
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency estimates that the number of victims receiving additional compensation under the special law will be around 'nine.' A Legislative and Judiciary Committee official noted that while 'there will be quite a few new lawsuits once the law is enacted,' he added, 'It doesn’t mean that compensation will increase indefinitely; according to the disease control agency's data, it seems that there will be fewer than 10 additional recipients of compensation.'
In this regard, the disease control agency stated, 'Once the special law is enacted, the standards for examining causal relationships for adverse reactions following COVID-19 vaccination will be eased, and those who have previously undergone review can also apply for re-examination under the new standards,' adding, 'Compensation is expected to expand further.'