Korean Life Insurance Association Holds Industry-Academia Cooperation Conference... "Activation of Insurance Claim Trusts"

The Life Insurance Association held the Winter Academic Conference of the Korea Trust Society on the 13th at the Life Insurance Education and Culture Center, under the theme "Legal Issues of Life Insurance Claim Rights Trust."

This winter academic conference brought together various experts from academia, the legal profession, and industry related to trusts. They discussed the legal issues of the life insurance claim rights trust newly implemented since last month and recent court precedents related to trusts.

In the first presentation of Session 1, Heesuk Yang, a lawyer at NH Nonghyup Life Insurance, introduced cases of life insurance trusts in the United States, which have developed in various ways for inheritance planning. He also presented the Japanese insurance claim rights trust cases, which are similar to Korea’s but leave standards such as trust amounts and trust beneficiaries to the discretion of trust companies. Additionally, he explained the legal issues arising from the introduction of insurance claim rights trusts in Korea in terms of trust objects, trust amounts, and trust beneficiaries.

Next, Byungkyu Han, a researcher at Korea University Law Research Institute, reviewed the theoretical background and practice of the U.S. life insurance trust business based on comparative law research.

In Session 2, Taejin Kim, a professor at Korea University, continued with a presentation on the limits of applying limited liability trusts, focusing on recent Supreme Court rulings. Professor Kim proposed ideas on the limited liability trust system under trust law and its utilization in real estate trusts.

In his opening remarks, Lee Junggi, president of the Korea Trust Society, said, “I hope the life insurance industry will pioneer new markets by utilizing the system of insurance claim rights trusts and explore new possibilities not only for insurance claim rights trusts but also for retirement pension trusts.”

Chuljoo Kim, president of the Life Insurance Association, stated, “At the point of entering a super-aged society, we need to activate insurance claim rights trusts and establish a legal and institutional framework to strengthen the comprehensive asset management functions of life insurance companies.”