South Korea rejects compensation claim for man in his 30s who died after receiving COVID-19 vaccine

A South Korean court has ruled that the government is not obligated to pay compensation sought by the family of Mr. A, a man in his 30s who died of a cerebral hemorrhage after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to a South Korean legal professional on the 27th, the 6th administrative division of the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the family of Mr. A against the head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) seeking compensation.
Mr. A died in December 2021 at the age of 39. He received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on October 12 of that year, was hospitalized one month later with a subarachnoid hemorrhage, and died one month after that.
The family of Mr. A claimed that the cause of death was aftereffects from the vaccination and applied to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for compensation for vaccination damages, but the application was rejected in June last year. The family appealed the decision and filed a lawsuit.
The court ruled that the causal relationship between the onset of cerebral hemorrhage and the vaccine could not be recognized. "There is no medical theory or empirical rule that would lead one to infer that subarachnoid hemorrhage was caused by vaccination.
"Therefore, it is difficult to estimate the causal relationship," he said. He added, "The headache worsened about one month after the vaccination," and "Considering the blood pressure and cholesterol levels, the deceased had a subarachnoid hemorrhage.
"Plaintiffs have not presented any evidence to the contrary," the court concluded.