Court: "Government-supported facility sale by Hanguk GM... Order to return 2.2 billion won subsidy illegal"

Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The court ruled that the government's order demanding Korea GM to return tens of billions of won in subsidies for disposing of government-subsidized facilities during the sale of the Gunsan plant was illegal.

According to the legal community on the 21st, the Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 4 (Chief Judge Han Wongyo) recently ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the first trial of Korea GM's lawsuit against the Minister of Employment and Labor to cancel the subsidy return order.

Previously, Korea GM applied for support funds under the "Consortium Project" (Vocational Competency Development Project) implemented by the Minister of Employment and Labor in 2007, receiving a total of 3.255 billion won in subsidies, and established and operated the Gunsan Technical Training Center as a training facility.

In 2019, Korea GM sold the Gunsan plant and also sold the Gunsan Technical Training Center to another company. However, this facility continued to operate as a training center related to the Vocational Competency Development Project even after the sale.

However, the Ministry of Employment and Labor ordered the return of the remaining value of the subsidy, approximately 2.234 billion won. Korea GM filed an administrative lawsuit, claiming the return order was illegal.

The court ruled in favor of Korea GM. It stated that since the six-year disposal restriction period under the consortium operation regulations had passed, there was no need to return the subsidy for disposing of the Gunsan Technical Training Center.

Furthermore, the court stated, "Korea GM, having received the subsidy and installed and operated the training facility according to its purpose, is not restricted in its disposal after the disposal restriction period has passed," and "there is no reason for the return order in this case."

The court added, "The restriction in related laws on arbitrarily disposing of training facilities established with subsidies is to ensure the continuity and stability of national subsidy projects," and "Korea GM installed the training facility using the subsidy and operated it in accordance with the subsidy’s purpose for about nine years, so the subsidy was properly executed."

It further explained, "Considering that the sale of the training facility occurred during the plaintiff's sale of the Gunsan plant facilities and the circumstances surrounding the disposal, the return order in this case is illegal as it exceeds and abuses discretionary authority."

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has appealed against this ruling.

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