Large Number of Defendants Delay Pusan Case

The Pusan district court has been drowning in a sea of paper for the past 11 months from a case that includes the most-ever, 5,800, defendants in court history.
The unusual case came to court last December when a British oil insurance company and P&I, an international association of ship owners, appealed an earlier decision that ruled they are liable for damages resulting from an oil tanker leak. According to the appeal motion, they disagreed with a Pusan court's earlier decision that ruled they must pay 2 million dollars in compensation to fishermen whose livelihood was threatened by a Yuil Shipping vessel's oil spill off the Pusan coast.
The accused insist that they should not pay because the court one-sidedly took the part of the fishermen and even included compensation for those who suffered no loss from the spill.
But the court is in chaos because of the sheer number of defendents which comprise 118 pages and the sending of subpoenas takes months.
Since it is an international suit, no one at the court is quite sure of a suitable process that can give a just result.