A Modest Demand, As Korean Plaintiffs Sue Samsung

In Korea, 527 owners of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones have joined a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics, seeking 500,000 won ($442) compensation per person. An attorney with the Harvest Law Firm, representing himself and the 526 other plaintiffs, said the demand is to compensate for costs to visit shops in order to exchange phones, for time waiting to do data transfers, and for psychological harm. “We are filing a lawsuit not to ask for hundreds of millions of won in punitive damages like in the United States,” he told reporters. “We are demanding fair compensation for the simple damage that consumers have suffered.” An article in Phys.org,, a science, research and technology news service, quotes a plaintiff who said he had to spend nearly $100 on gas and tolls to drive 300 kilometers from his home in the town of Cheonan to Busan, where he had brought his phone. Per a check on google maps, it appears the man may have inflated his mileage claim somewhat, but was only figuring the one-way cost, not the round trip.