"If Public Project Land Is Acquired but Landowners Are Not Informed of Project Cancellation, It Is Unfair"

Kwonikwi Recommends Jindo-gun Take Action on Land Ownership Transfer Registration

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok]

#Mr. A owned land in Jodo-myeon, Jindo-gun, Jeollanam-do, which was incorporated into a public interest project. Mr. A transferred the land ownership after receiving compensation from Jindo-gun, the project implementer, but when Jindo-gun was requested by a third party to exchange other land acquired through negotiation, it removed Mr. A's land from the project area and exchanged it. Mr. A filed a grievance complaint with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission demanding repurchase, arguing that exchanging the land without his consent was unfair.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission ruled that it was unfair for the project implementer to exchange incorporated land that became unnecessary due to the abolition or change of the public interest project with a third party without the original owner's consent.

On the 25th, the Commission recommended that Jindo-gun take measures to ensure that the land ownership transfer registration is made to the original owner, as the repurchase option must be offered to the original landowner when land acquired through negotiation becomes unnecessary due to changes in the public interest project. The Commission confirmed through investigation that the land was excluded from the public interest project area, allowing Mr. A to exercise the repurchase right, and that the repurchase request was made within the legally prescribed application period, fulfilling the repurchase conditions.

According to laws related to land compensation, when land subject to repurchase arises due to changes in a public interest project, the implementer must promptly notify the repurchase right holder of this fact. The Commission also confirmed court precedents stating that if the implementer exchanges incorporated land that became unnecessary due to project abolition or changes with a third party without the original owner's consent, the implementer must carry out the ownership transfer registration procedure based on the repurchase right for the original owner.

Im Jin-hong, Grievance Complaint Deliberation Officer at the Commission, said, "It is unfair to transfer ownership to a third party without asking the original owner’s intention for repurchase after providing private land for a public interest project," and added, "Implementers need to be careful not to infringe on the rights of citizens whose land is incorporated into public interest projects."

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