Supreme Court Rules Jurisdiction Decision on Saemangeum 1 and 2 Embankment Reclamation Proper... Dismisses Claims by Gunsan Mayor and Others

Saemangeum East-West Road. (Provided by Jeollabuk-do) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The Supreme Court has ruled that the 2015 decision by the Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to assign jurisdiction over the reclaimed land sections of Saemangeum No. 1 and No. 2 embankments to Buan County and Gimje City, respectively, was lawful.

The Supreme Court (Presiding Justice Park Jeong-hwa) on the 14th dismissed two cases filed by the Mayor of Gunsan and the County Head of Buan, who each requested the cancellation of the jurisdictional decision over the Saemangeum embankments made by the Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Article 4, Paragraph 3 of the Local Autonomy Act, revised in 2009, stipulates that the Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety shall determine the local government to which reclaimed land under the Reclaimed Land Act belongs.

Accordingly, in 2015, the Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, after a resolution by the Central Dispute Mediation Committee for Local Governments under the Ministry, decided that the local government for the No. 1 embankment would be Buan County and for the No. 2 embankment would be Gimje City.

The plaintiffs, local government heads, filed lawsuits claiming that Article 4, Paragraph 3 of the Local Autonomy Act, which was the basis for the Minister’s decision, was unconstitutional and that the Minister’s decision involved illegal abuse or excess of discretion.

First, the court stated, “Even if Article 4, Paragraph 3 and subsequent provisions of the Local Autonomy Act do not specifically regulate the substantive criteria or considerations for resolutions or decisions regarding jurisdiction over reclaimed land, it cannot be seen as infringing on the essence of the local autonomy system or violating the principle of delegation of authority.”

The court further explained, “In 2013, the Supreme Court dismissed claims by the Mayor of Gimje and the County Head of Buan regarding the reclaimed land of the No. 3 and No. 4 embankments, ruling that, concerning the overall jurisdiction of the planned reclamation area, unless there are special circumstances, it is reasonable to assign each reclaimed land adjacent to Gunsan City, Gimje City, and Buan County to the respective local governments. The Man-gyeong River and Dongjin River divide the entire Saemangeum reclaimed land into three major parts based on the completed reclamation status, and this decision follows that division, considering accessibility to each embankment and administrative efficiency.”

It concluded, “This decision follows the previous Supreme Court ruling and does not involve illegal abuse or excess of discretion.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.