Final Defeat at the Supreme Court in Lawsuit to Cancel Approval of Shin-Gori Units 5 and 6

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Greenpeace, an international environmental organization, and nearby residents who filed a lawsuit against the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) over issues with the construction permit for Shin-Kori Units 5 and 6 nuclear power plants, have ultimately lost the case.

On the 4th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Park Jeong-hwa) announced that it upheld the lower court's ruling, which dismissed the appeal filed by Greenpeace and others seeking to cancel the construction permit for Shin-Kori Units 5 and 6 issued by the NSSC.

Shin-Kori Units 5 and 6 began construction in June 2016 after receiving approval from the NSSC. However, environmental groups and local residents filed a lawsuit in September of the same year, claiming that the NSSC granted the construction permit without considering specific risks.

The first and second trials ruled against Greenpeace and the civic groups. The first trial acknowledged that the NSSC's construction permit had some illegal aspects but decided that canceling the permit would not serve the public interest. The second trial judged that one of the two illegal reasons recognized by the first trial did not violate the law and, like the first trial, ruled in favor of the NSSC based on the public interest.

The Supreme Court also stated, "Considering all circumstances such as the illegal reasons and nature of the disposition, the cause of occurrence, the possibility of resolution or supplementation, and the expected consequences of canceling the disposition, the necessity to cancel the disposition is small, but the adverse effects on the public interest caused by canceling the disposition are relatively significant."

Meanwhile, Shin-Kori Units 5 and 6 are scheduled for completion next year.

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