Open Decision Ledger · Labour & industrial accidents
Relief payment for workers on pneumoconiosis pensions after a mine closure
Supreme Court, Oct. 15, 2020, 2020Du34308 (judgment)
No holding summary · checked against points at issue. The official text publishes no summary of the holding for this decision. The quotation and factors in this record are copied verbatim from the points at issue; the evidence for each axis is taken from the points at issue, the order and the reasons.
Case name: 재해위로금지급청구의소
Official text on the National Law Information Center
Question
Is a worker who suffered a pneumoconiosis-related occupational injury at a mine closed on 14 May 1993, had the disability grade fixed after 21 November 2010 and now receives a pneumoconiosis compensation pension rather than a disability benefit, within the class to whom relief payment is due under Article 41(3) of the former Enforcement Decree of the Coal Industry Act, and how is the amount of that payment calculated?
Holding
Yes, and the amount is calculated on the disability lump sum. The first part of the provision states who may receive the relief payment and the second part states only the yardstick for its amount, drafted when no pneumoconiosis compensation pension existed and every injured worker received or could receive a disability lump sum. A worker whose disability grade was fixed after the amended Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act took effect on 21 November 2010 is therefore still a recipient, and the amount is worked out by applying by analogy the criteria for the disability lump sum in Article 57(2) [Table 2] of that Act, taking away the relief payment already made on the earlier grade.
Points at issue, verbatim
구 석탄산업법 시행령 제41조 제3항 제4호의 ‘재해발생기간에 불구하고 폐광일 현재 장해등급이 확정되지 아니한 자’에 최초의 요양을 종결하고 그에 따른 신체장해등급 판정을 받고 그에 상응하는 재해위로금을 받았다가 폐광일 이후 해당 상병이 재발하거나 또는 해당 상병에 기인한 합병증이 발생하여 재요양을 받게 된 피재근로자가 포함되는지 여부(적극)
Unofficial English translation
Whether an injured employee is included in the term 'a person whose disability grade has not been determined as of the mine closure date, notwithstanding the period in which the disaster occurred' in subparagraph 4 of Article 41 (3) of the former Enforcement Decree of the Coal Industry Act, where the employee completed initial medical treatment, received a physical disability grade determination corresponding thereto, and received the corresponding disaster consolation money, but where, after the mine closure date, the relevant disease recurred or a complication caused by the relevant disease arose and the employee consequently underwent further medical treatment (affirmative)
Disposition
Reversed and remanded Stated in the decision
원심판결을 파기하고, 사건을 서울고등법원에 환송한다.
Unofficial English translation
The judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Seoul High Court.
Form of the test
Elements stated Stated in the decision
전문은 ‘지급 대상(지급요건)’에 관한 규정이고, 후문은 전문의 지급요건이 충족된 자에게 지급하는 재해위로금의 ‘금액 산정기준’을 규정한 것이라고 보아야 한다.
Unofficial English translation
The former part is a provision concerning the 'persons eligible for payment (payment requirements),' and the latter part must be regarded as prescribing the 'criteria for calculating the amount' of the disaster consolation money to be paid to a person who meets the payment requirements of the former part.
Factors
- ‘재해발생기간에 불구하고 폐광일 현재 장해등급이 확정되지 아니한 자’에
- 최초의 요양을 종결하고 그에 따른 신체장해등급 판정을 받고 그에 상응하는 재해위로금을 받았다가 폐광일 이후 해당 상병이 재발하거나 또는 해당 상병에 기인한 합병증이 발생하여 재요양을 받게 된 피재근로자가
- ‘2010. 5. 20. 법률 제10305호로 개정된 산업재해보상보험법 시행일인 2010. 11. 21. 이후에 장해등급이 확정’되어
- 구 석탄산업법 시행령 제41조 제3항 제4호에 따른 재해위로금 지급 대상에 해당하는지 여부(적극)
Unofficial English translation
• in the term 'a person whose disability grade has not been determined as of the mine closure date, notwithstanding the period in which the disaster occurred'
• an injured employee who completed initial medical treatment, received a physical disability grade determination corresponding thereto, and received the corresponding disaster consolation money, but who, after the mine closure date, experienced recurrence of the relevant disease or occurrence of a complication caused by the relevant disease and consequently underwent further medical treatment
• 'whose disability grade was determined after November 21, 2010, the date on which the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act amended by Act No. 10305 on May 20, 2010 took effect,' and
• whether the person falls within the persons eligible for the disaster consolation money under subparagraph 4 of Article 41 (3) of the former Enforcement Decree of the Coal Industry Act (affirmative)
Relation to precedent
Follows earlier decisions Stated in the decision
대법원 1999. 1. 26. 선고 98두12598 판결(공1999상, 381)
Unofficial English translation
Supreme Court Decision 98Du12598 decided January 26, 1999 (Gong 1999 Sang, 381)
Decisions referred to
[1] 대법원 1999. 1. 26. 선고 98두12598 판결(공1999상, 381), 대법원 1999. 6. 22. 선고 98두5149 판결, 대법원 2019. 7. 25. 선고 2017두69830 판결(공2019하, 1678)
Burden of proof
Not addressed Not in the decision
Open question and revisit condition
Does the express exclusion added to the Enforcement Decree on 9 December 2014 apply to a worker whose disability grade was determined before that date?
Any later decision on the retroactive reach of the 9 December 2014 amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Coal Industry Act would require this entry to be read again. So would an amendment to the criteria for the disability lump sum in Article 57(2) of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, on which the amount here depends.
Cross-family AI independent reading & axis check
8 of 8 axes matched GPT-6 Astra (OpenAI, codex CLI) · 2026-10-25
A reader from another model family (GPT-6 Astra), given the official text but not the primary reading, agreed on all 8 axes.
Raw responses and comparison record: Protocol · Blind readings (JSONL) · Axis comparison (JSONL) · SHA-256 (JSON)
Lower-court contrast & scope of application
Lower-court reading vs. Supreme Court holding
Lower-court context: The Seoul High Court, in its judgment of 17 January 2020 (2019Nu53985), held that the plaintiff could receive the relief payment only if he met the conditions in the first part of Article 41(3) of the former Enforcement Decree and was also in a position to be paid a disability lump sum or a survivor's lump sum. Because the plaintiff received a pneumoconiosis compensation pension under the amended Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act and no disability benefit, the court below held he was not a person to whom the relief payment was due.
Supreme Court standard: The Supreme Court held that this misapprehended the law on who may receive the relief payment under the Coal Industry Act. The first part of the provision governs eligibility and the second only the amount, which was set by reference to the disability lump sum to make calculating the amount easy, since no pneumoconiosis pension system then existed and every injured worker received or could receive that benefit. The benefit paid under the old and the new insurance law is of the same character and only its name, amount and method of payment changed, and whether the grade was fixed before or after 21 November 2010 depends on the unpredictable speed of the disease, which is a matter of chance. It reversed the whole judgment and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court, the Justices being unanimous.
Distinguishing conditions
- A case recognised as an occupational injury through pneumoconiosis under Article 91-2 of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, which Article 41(4)(v)(a) of the Enforcement Decree as amended by Presidential Decree No. 25831 expressly excludes from the recipients of relief payment.
- An injury not suffered in the mine during the year before its closure, so that the conditions in the first part of the provision are not met even where the disability grade was fixed later.
- A survivor's claim for relief payment, since the decision was rendered on the worker's own claim, although its reasons state that a survivor receiving the pneumoconiosis survivor's pension is likewise within the class of recipients.
Record verification notes
Fix the dates first: the date of the occupational injury, the closure date of the mine and the date the final disability grade was determined, since the first part of the provision ties eligibility to those dates. Then find which version of Article 41 of the Enforcement Decree governs, because the Decree of 9 December 2014 added an express exclusion for pneumoconiosis cases. Lastly work out the amount on the grade actually awarded, using the criteria in Article 57(2) [Table 2] of the amended insurance law and deducting every relief payment already made on an earlier grade.
From the official text
Points at issue
[1] 구 석탄산업법 시행령 제41조 제3항 제4호의 ‘재해발생기간에 불구하고 폐광일 현재 장해등급이 확정되지 아니한 자’에 최초의 요양을 종결하고 그에 따른 신체장해등급 판정을 받고 그에 상응하는 재해위로금을 받았다가 폐광일 이후 해당 상병이 재발하거나 또는 해당 상병에 기인한 합병증이 발생하여 재요양을 받게 된 피재근로자가 포함되는지 여부(적극) 및 이 경우 지급해야 하는 재해위로금액 [2] 폐광된 광산에서 진폐로 인한 업무상 재해를 입은 근로자가 ‘2010. 5. 20. 법률 제10305호로 개정된 산업재해보상보험법 시행일인 2010. 11. 21. 이후에 장해등급이 확정’되어 장해급여가 아닌 진폐보상연금을 받게 된 경우, 구 석탄산업법 시행령 제41조 제3항 제4호에 따른 재해위로금 지급 대상에 해당하는지 여부(적극)
Unofficial English translation
[1] Whether an injured employee is included in the term 'a person whose disability grade has not been determined as of the mine closure date, notwithstanding the period in which the disaster occurred' in subparagraph 4 of Article 41 (3) of the former Enforcement Decree of the Coal Industry Act, where the employee completed initial medical treatment, received a physical disability grade determination corresponding thereto, and received the corresponding disaster consolation money, but where, after the mine closure date, the relevant disease recurred or a complication caused by the relevant disease arose and the employee consequently underwent further medical treatment (affirmative), and the amount of the disaster consolation money to be paid in such a case [2] Whether a worker who suffered an industrial accident caused by pneumoconiosis at a closed mine and 'whose disability grade was determined after November 21, 2010, the date on which the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act amended by Act No. 10305 on May 20, 2010 took effect,' and who consequently came to receive a pneumoconiosis compensation annuity instead of disability benefits, falls within the persons eligible for the disaster consolation money under subparagraph 4 of Article 41 (3) of the former Enforcement Decree of the Coal Industry Act (affirmative)
Summary of the holding
The official text publishes no summary of the holding for this decision. The quotation and factors in this record are copied verbatim from the points at issue; the evidence for each axis is taken from the points at issue, the order and the reasons.
Order
원심판결을 파기하고, 사건을 서울고등법원에 환송한다.
Unofficial English translation
The judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Seoul High Court.
Provisions referred to
[1] 구 석탄산업법(1993. 3. 6. 법률 제4541호로 개정되기 전의 것) 제39조의3 제1항, 구 석탄산업법 시행령(1993. 3. 6. 대통령령 제13870호로 개정되기 전의 것) 제41조 제3항 제5호(현행 제41조 제4항 제5호 참조) [2] 구 석탄산업법(1993. 3. 6. 법률 제4541호로 개정되기 전의 것) 제39조의3 제1항, 구 석탄산업법 시행령(1993. 3. 6. 대통령령 제13870호로 개정되기 전의 것) 제41조 제3항 제5호(현행 제41조 제4항 제5호 참조), 산업재해보상보험법 제36조 제1항, 제91조의3, 제91조의4
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