Seongnam-si Wins Lawsuit Related to Sinheung-dong 1st Industrial Complex Development Project

Seongnam City Hall

Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province won the appeal in a damages claim lawsuit against a private business operator related to the '1st Industrial Complex Development Project.'

Contrary to the first trial ruling that ordered Seongnam City to pay 32.5 billion KRW in compensation to the private business operator regarding the 1st Industrial Complex Development Project, the Civil Division 2 of Suwon High Court overturned the first trial's ruling against Seongnam City and dismissed all claims filed by the business operator, the city announced on the 25th following the appeal ruling on the 24th.

The site of the 1st Industrial Complex in Sinheung-dong, Sujeong-gu, Seongnam City, was designated as an urban development zone in May 2009 based on a proposal from Saeroun Seongnam Co., Ltd. Subsequently, Sinheung Property Partners Co., Ltd., which purchased the land of the 1st Industrial Complex site, submitted an application to Seongnam City to be designated as the urban development project implementer, but the city rejected the application, stating it did not comply with relevant regulations.

Sinheung Property Partners filed an administrative lawsuit requesting the cancellation of Seongnam City's rejection, and after five years of litigation, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Seongnam City in 2016.

However, in the first trial of the damages claim lawsuit filed by Sinheung Property Partners, which proceeded simultaneously with the administrative lawsuit, Seongnam City partially lost. In the ruling delivered in February 2019, the first trial court recognized Seongnam City's liability for damages, stating that the rejection of the application for designation as the developer of the Sinheung Urban Development Project was an abuse and deviation of discretionary power, ordering compensation of 29.5 billion KRW plus interest, totaling 32.5 billion KRW.

Seongnam City appealed the first trial ruling, arguing that the city's administrative disposition regarding the application for designation as the project implementer requested by Sinheung Property Partners was lawful.

If Seongnam City had lost in the second trial, it would have had to pay the plaintiff over 50 billion KRW including interest as damages, but with the victory in the second trial, the city will not have to pay the damages.

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