What do you think the retirement age of a female fashion model is?  Judges of Seoul Central District Court answered, “it is 35 years old”, reported on April 16.

It was the case where a female fashion model, who was 17 then, was died by an accident during shooting illustrated magazine.  It is reported that the model slipped into the sea while trying to pose barefoot at the tip of a dock on an Island.

The model’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the photographer and the magazine for their negligence for failing to prepare safety measures, claiming monetary compensation of 180 million won(180 thousand U.S. dollars).  This amount was based on plaintiffs’ allegation that the model could work until the age of 60.

The court, however, rejected plaintiffs’ allegation and ordered the defendants to pay about 100 million won ($100,000) to the plaintiffs, which amount is the earnings she would have accumulated by the age of 35.

The court addressed that “considering that 94 percent of female models registered with the Korea Model Association are in their 20s and most of them quit before they reach their mid-30s, it seems reasonable to set the retirement age for female fashion models at 35.”

Korean court has its own rules on how to calculate the compensation in wrongful death and a personal injury case.  Please refer to this article on this area of law.

© 2008 Wonil Chung, Korean Entertainment Lawyer/ Chung & Partners, Korean Law Firm.  All rights reserved. Some copyrights, photos, icons, trademarks, trade dress, or other commercial symbols that appear on this post are the property of the respective owners.