By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
Samsung Everland, the country's biggest amusement park, was ruled responsible for a moving walkway accident injury by the Supreme Court, Thursday.
The Supreme Court overturned the original verdict against the plaintiff, a student identified as Lee, 19, who filed a complaint against the amusement park after being injured on the park's moving walkway.
The court said Everland, led by CEO Choi Joo-hyeon, did not fulfill its responsibility to prevent accidents and protect its customers. "We recognize that the resort did not post signs warning baby carriers or the like using the moving walkway or station safety patrols to help them get on or off," the judge said.
"Everland should have expected the possibility of accidents as they knew many teenagers could flock on at once, unlike at airports where it's mostly adults."
Lee visited the amusement park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province during a field trip in May 2004 when she was attending middle school in Busan. When she was on a moving walkway, a baby carriage in front of her got stuck at the end of the walkway, causing some 40 people following on the moving sidewalk to collapse in a chain reaction.
Lee injured her knee and her family sued the amusement park for 38 million won in damages.
The first and second trials ruled in favor of Everland as the moving walkway is generally approved as safe and the resort does not have the responsibility to place security personnel near the walkway all the time.
"We fully respect the decision of the Supreme Court," the resort's spokesman said. "However, the trial procedures are not completely over yet and we will review the ruling carefully to devise follow-up measures."
Everland also enhanced safety measures regarding moving walkways after the accident, he added. The resort ranked 10th in world amusement park attendance in 2009, as announced by the Themed Entertainment Association.
meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr