Ma et al. v. KEPCO et. al

On August 12, 2025, a group of Korean farmers filed a civil claim against the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and its five subsidiaries. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants, as Korea’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, have substantially contributed to the worsening climate crisis and abnormal climate events through their continued reliance on thermal and coal-fired power generation and related investments. The plaintiffs claim that these activities have caused severe damage to the plaintiff’s farming operations and seek compensation for both economic losses and psychological harm. The plaintiffs allege that despite longstanding knowledge of climate-related risks, the defendants, as public institutions, unfairly expanded coal and gas generation instead of transitioning to renewable. Invoking the polluter-pays principle, the plaintiffs argue that the defendants’ emissions and the resulting damage suffered by the plaintiffs exceed socially tolerable limits, giving rise to joint and several tort liability. To apportion liability, the plaintiffs rely on the Nature article published in April 2025 and a 2014 research paper by Richard Heede, contending that it is possible to quantify the proportion of global carbon emissions attributable to each defendant and to assess the corresponding degree of climate change and resulting economic harm.