The Applicability of Business Judgment Rule to the Corporate Officers in the U.S. Cases In the U.S., it is usually recognized by the most commentators that the status and liability of corporate officers are similar to those of the directors and that the business judgment rule applies to the corporate officers as well as the directors. However, the cases on the applicability of business judgment rule to the corporate officers are divided into three groups: decisions agreeing on the applicability of the rule to the officers, decisions disagreeing on the applicability of the rule to the officers, and the decision not deciding on the issue based on the procedural defect. Some scholars even argue that the case law on whether the rule applies to the officer is not clearly established. When the Korean Commercial Code introduces corporate officer, it must be decided whether business judgment rule applies to the officers and, if applied, whether the rule applies with same fashion to the officers. The U.S. cases on the applicability of business judgment rule will give strong implication to the interpretation of Korean Commercial Code. When the business judgment rule applies to the officers, it is required to figure out first whether the premise of the rule exists on the corporate officers, and the rationales of the applicability of the rule can justify such application to the officers. Thus the applicability of the rule should not be decided merely by the reason of the similarity of the status between officers and directors.

The Applicability of Business Judgment Rule to the Corporate Officers in the U.S. Cases In the U.S., it is usually recognized by the most commentators that the status and liability of corporate officers are similar to those of the directors and that the business judgment rule applies to the corporate officers as well as the directors. However, the cases on the applicability of business judgment rule to the corporate officers are divided into three groups: decisions agreeing on the applicability of the rule to the officers, decisions disagreeing on the applicability of the rule to the officers, and the decision not deciding on the issue based on the procedural defect. Some scholars even argue that the case law on whether the rule applies to the officer is not clearly established. When the Korean Commercial Code introduces corporate officer, it must be decided whether business judgment rule applies to the officers and, if applied, whether the rule applies with same fashion to the officers. The U.S. cases on the applicability of business judgment rule will give strong implication to the interpretation of Korean Commercial Code. When the business judgment rule applies to the officers, it is required to figure out first whether the premise of the rule exists on the corporate officers, and the rationales of the applicability of the rule can justify such application to the officers. Thus the applicability of the rule should not be decided merely by the reason of the similarity of the status between officers and directors.

Key words≫business judgment rule, liability of corporate officers, duty of care, gross negligence, corporate officers